


Witches, man

by Enovelist



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Scott McCall, Evolved Derek Hale, M/M, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Versatile Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Witches, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 52,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enovelist/pseuds/Enovelist
Summary: Everyone is alive. Pack 2.0 is not in the picture.Scott is the alpha and the pack is back after college. And Derek came back as well, so all is good. At least for now. But when Isaac and Erica get affected by a spell, things go south. Again. Can they find the witch responsible?Un-betaed. Just me.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I've had on my computer for a while. I found it unfinished (I have a lot of those) and thought I'd give it a shot. Hope it turns out good enough for you to enjoy the read. Disclaimer; I don't own TW or any of its characters. I just write stories with them in it.

  _Come to the loft. Something’s wrong with Isaac, bringing him there. – Scott_

Stiles, who had almost parked outside his house, muttered a curse, pocketed his phone and put his Jeep in reverse. His dad was working tonight anyway, but Stiles had just finished his work-out routine and had been looking forward to get some sleep tonight. The hunters that had come through town last week was gone, but his bruises were not.

Parking outside Derek’s loft, Stiles pulled his laptop from his backpack and hoped Isaac was alright.

“Hey. What’s wrong with Isaac?” he said as he slid the door shut and walked into the room. A room that had actual furniture and no holes in the wall. It wasn’t what Stiles would call homey, but it was better than what it had been years ago.

Derek looked up from the books scattered all over the large table in front of the windows. “It’s not just Isaac. Erica has the same symptoms.” With his arms crossed over his chest, he nodded over to the couch, where Erica was seated.

Stiles frowned. “She looks alright to me?” Walking over to her, he noticed her eyes had a glossy shine and her skin had turned into a grey-blue color. “Erica?”

Her eyes slowly made their way from looking into the air and over to Stiles face. A slow smile spread on her lips. “You’re pretty.”

“U-hu.. thank you.” Stiles looked at Scott, who had a thoughtful look. “What are the symptoms? They don’t remember us? Her skin is grey. Scott? SCOTT!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about what Deaton said.”

“And what did he say?” Stiles looked back to Erica, who was still looking at him with a somewhat drugged smile.

“Deaton found traces of magic on both her and Isaac. It’s a spell making them regress back to- like children. They forget. Soon they won’t remember us at all and they’ll forget about everything that has happened the last 10 years. Like-“ He swallowed and Stiles felt Scott’s sympathetic eyes on him.

“Like dementia” The words got dragged out of Stiles like a shaky whisper and he looked back to Erica, who was now looking into thin air again, like she didn’t even register them being there. Stiles knew that look all too well.

Derek sighed. “Deaton says we have to take care of them until he can finish the mixture. But we need to know the name of the witch that cast the spell in order to break it.” Derek looked at Stiles with steady eyes and Stiles managed a deep breath. “Deaton is making the mixture as we speak. Several actually, as we’re not sure just witch spell she used. When they drink it, he needs to say the counter-spell along with the name of the caster.” Derek stepped closer to Stiles, who seemed a bit lost in memories. “Stiles. It’s going to be okay.” His voice was softer than usual and Stiles looked over at the man who had moved closer to them as he spoke.

“Yeah, I-“ He cleared his throat and held up his laptop. “I’ll see what I can find on witches and spells.” With one last glance on Erica, he walked over to the table, turned on his laptop and drummed his fingers on the table while he waited for it to boot up. “How are we going to find the witch that cast the spell? How much time do we have?”

Scott sat down across from him. “Deaton says we have a week. A few days, at least.” The look on his best friends face told Stiles he was worried there wouldn't be enough time.

Derek cocked his head and looked towards the stairs. “Isaac’s awake.”

“I’ll go get him.” Scott got up and disappeared upstairs.

The silence stretched across the loft, only the sound of the laptop to keep them company. Stiles felt a hand on his arm and looked up from the screen to meet the eyes of his friend. “We’re going to fix this, Stiles.”

He swallowed. He believed Derek when he said that. He had come to rely on and trust Derek in the years that had passed. Derek might have been a shitty alpha in the start, but he had changed a lot. Being a beta suited him. The rest of the them had changed as well. For the better, in Stiles opinion. They were a pack now. They had grown up. And with everyone almost finished with their educations and degrees, they were all moving back to Beacon Hills.

Derek gave Stiles arm a comforting squeeze before Scott and Isaac came down the stairs.

“Hey buddy. How are you feeling?” Stiles asked Isaac, who smiled wide at the soft question and came over to sit next to Stiles.

“Good.” He looked at Stiles, who bumped their shoulders together and Isaac beamed before going still. “I’m hungry.”

“I’ll fix you something to eat, Isaac. Come with me.” Derek said. Derek looked like he used to, the only difference were the eyebrows that showed just how concerned he was about his packmates.

As Isaac and Derek left for the kitchen, Stiles looked over to Scott. “He seems better than Erica. Not as progressed as her. And his skin isn’t as grey either.”

“I know. We don’t know why. I’ve never seen anything like this. We didn’t even notice anything different at first either.”

“I know you went out to run the borders last night. And I can’t exactly come along for that, no wolfy-speed, but why didn’t you call me when shit went south?”

Scott frowned. “There was nothing out of the ordinary. We ran the borders as usual and on our way back, Derek remembered you mentioning something last night about the vibe being off or something so we decided to check it out. We didn’t know she would still be there. And she noticed us right away, even before we saw her.”

“I knew there was something going on, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.” Stiles ran a hand through his hair, like he had taken to a habit since it had grown out. “Can you remember the words she used?”

Scott shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think it was English. It sounded old, like-“ He whined. “I’m not good at language, you know that.”

Stiles snorted. “Only you Scott. Was it Latin? French?”

“It was Hebraic or something close to that.” Derek came back with Isaac in tow, who was happily chewing on a sandwich. “At least it had that flow in the words. I don’t remember the exact words, but I heard something like hokmeh or hokma.” He frowned. Well, frowned deeper. “And taket? Or something. Lepar? Not sure. I didn’t have the time to listen all that well, seeing as green flames came after us.” He looked over to Erica, who was chewing slowly on her own sandwich. “She threw the green flames after us, but Erica and Isaac were the only ones who were hit.”

Stiles worked quickly and just as Erica also finished her sandwich, he made a triumphant sound and looked at Derek. “Ma, also translated hokhmah, is the Hebrew word for ‘wisdom’. And toqeph means power, strength or energy.” He raised a brow. “A witch could probably want all of those things so..” He squinted at the screen. “Did she maybe use the word tephar?” He looked at Derek, who shrugged. “It means claw.” Stiles looked at the screen. “Or nail. But seeing as you have claws, something most people don’t have, I imagine she uses the word in the werewolf sense.”

Scott leaned back in his chair, a frustrated look in his eyes. “She knew we were there before we even saw her. I mean, I could smell her but I couldn’t see her. And how did she know what we were?”

“Powerful witches just know shit like that, dude. She could probably feel your energy as you came within range.” Stiles sighed and looked around. “Where’s Boyd and the rest?”

“Out looking for her.” Derek stood looking out the window, as if he could sense what Boyd was doing.

“I don’t think they can find her as long as she doesn’t want to be found, but-“ Stiles jumped in his chair as he felt a hand sliding under his shirt and over the small of his back. “Heeey, Erica. A little touchy there, huh? Are you- Scott, is she purring?”

Scott tensed, but started smiling when he saw that Erica just wanted to cuddle.

Stiles took her hand and tried prying it out from under his clothes but she didn’t want any of that, and growled until Stiles gave up and continued typing, bravely ignoring the roaming hand all over his back. “You act all tough and brave, but you are a cuddler. Who knew?” Stiles mumbled as he continued typing on his laptop, with Erica plastered to his side, making content noises. He met Derek’s eyebrows of doom from across the table and raised his own. “What? It’s not like I can wrestle her off me and win. I tried. Besides, she’s only scratching my back- Hey, no! Erica, not below the waistline.” He caught her wrist, sitting almost twisted in his chair. “You want to stroke my back, alright. But not below the waistline, Catwoman. If you do, I’ll have Scott help me get you off me.” He thought he heard Derek give a warning growl but couldn't be sure as he was trying his best to keep her hands away from him.

A high pitched whine came from Erica but she kept her hand above the waist and Stiles turned back to his work.

 

-


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles woke up hours later and lifted his head from the book he had been sleeping on. “Scott?” He looked around and saw Derek sitting in a chair, with a laptop in front of him. “Why do you have my laptop?”

Derek raised an unimpressed brow and Stiles got up from the chair and ran a hand through his hair.

“You fell asleep and Scott is upstairs with Isaac and Erica. They’re not responding anymore.”

“Why did you let me sleep? I could’ve found something more.” Stiles exclaimed as he made his way over to where Derek was sitting.

“Deaton is on his way here. From what we found out-“

“I found out.” Stiles interrupted, still a little irritated that he had fallen asleep.

“-the witches name is Kiera. And from the information you found she wants the things werewolves have. Speed, strength, healing, higher senses. What I can’t understand is why.”

Stiles sighed as he made his way over to where Derek was sitting. “She’s a witch. She could get all of that through spells. Right?”

Derek frowned. “Don’t know.” He looked at the door. “Deaton’s here.”

-

“I hate Tuesday s. And Mondays. Every day that ends with a ‘y’ where I find myself out in the woods, fighting some crazy motherfu-“

“We get it. You sprained your ankle. But you didn’t break anything, Stiles.” Lydia said, walking beside him. In heels.

“How do you manage walking in those shoes out in the woods? And why did I have to be the one to sprain my ankle, when I’m wearing my very flat, very comfortable shoes?” He looked at Lydia, who looked bored. “Not that I would want you to sprain your ankle, my Goddess. But really-“

Deaton suddenly came into view next to them. “The reversion of the spell must have worked. Isaac and Erica are back to normal.”

“And you know this how?” Lydia asked.

“They called. I’m checking up on them, to see if there’s anything from the spell that is still active.” With that the vet disappeared in the direction where he had parked his car.

Stiles looked over to Scott. “Help me get back to the Jeep?”

Scott smiled. “Sure, bro.”

“I hope Derek and the others will find the bitch that did this to Erica and Isaac. And my ankle.” Stiles mumbled. The evolved wolf and Jackson and Boyd had taken off after her, while Scott to stayed with the humans.

Lydia sniffed. “They’ll get her. As soon as she stops hiding.”

-

Stiles heard his window opening just as he was falling asleep. “D’rek?”

“Scott said you were injured.”

Stiles sighed and turned around to sit up. “Just a sprained ankle. I’m fine.” _And some bruises along my torso, but no one needs to know just how easily the human gets hurt_. He paused and looked at Derek. “Did you find the witch after she ran off?”

Derek clenched his jaw. “No. We lost her scent by the boarder.” He frowned. “I have a feeling she’ll return.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. Just a feeling. She didn’t get what she was after, so..”

Stiles yawned. “I know.” He paused before lifting his eyes to meet the wolf’s. “Do you think she was telling the truth? About wanting the power to revenge a loved one?”

“I don’t know why she needed werewolf powers to revenge someone.” Derek said, eyes tracing the paper-clips on the wall. “She’s a witch, why should she need more.”

Stiles shrugged. “I have no idea. She seemed a bit out of it, to be honest. Crazy, yeah. But more because she’s hurting, not because she’s actually insane.” He glanced at Derek, who was looking out the window. “You okay there, big guy?”

Derek snorted at the nick-name but nodded. “Just tired. See you tomorrow.” He opened the window and looked over his shoulder at Stiles. “Never lie about getting hurt, Stiles. At least not to me.”

Then he disappeared, leaving Stiles surprised but with a small smile breaking out on his lips. Of course Derek would know if he was hurt or not.

-

“What’s that look on your face?” Cora said, sitting down next to Stiles at the loft two days later.

“What look?”

“The kind of look that makes me wanna punch you.”

Stiles blinked. “Oh my god, you are so Derek’s sister. I forgot.”

“Well, what is with the look?” she asked, not letting his words sway her.

“I just don’t believe that the witch is telling the truth. The thing is, she always talked about revenging a loved one. But she never talked in first person. She always said; when someone wants to revenge a loved one. You know?”

Cora shrugged. “I don’t. I flew in yesterday, remember?”

“I know. But listen; she never said that she was the one doing all of this.” He licked his lips and turned towards her. “Some of the details changed, like she couldn’t remember all of the things that had been given as a reason. It doesn’t make sense.”

Cora raised her brows and pursed her lips. “Well, let’s say you’re right. Then we heard the story from her perspective.”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think we’ve got the whole story.”

“You can’t just ask the witch. We can’t find her, Stiles. Even with all of us out patrolling the boarders, we haven’t noticed her coming back.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I know.” He got up and walked around, feeling his body thrum with unleashed energy. “It was something that didn’t make sense.”

Cora got up as well and walked towards the kitchen. “You already said that.”

His fingers started itching and he clenched and un-clenched his fist, feeling like he had been taking too much Adderall. The thing was, a few years back he hadn’t felt the need to take his medicine because of the meditation he had started doing. “All we do is show up late.” Stiles stopped. “We showed up late. There was something else or someone else out there that night.”

He stopped his pacing and turned to look at Cora. “I need to call Scott.”

-

“Why are you so sure about this?” Scott asked as they were all gathered at the loft.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “ _How_ can you be so sure? We couldn’t see or smell anyone else out there.”

Erica leaned back in her chair, popping her chewing-gum loudly. “I don’t know why, but somehow I think Stiles is on to something.”

“How can you say that? You weren’t even there that night.” Cora said, looking bored.

Erica growled and leaned her elbows on her knees. “Neither were you.” She paused when Scott straightened up in his seat but she looked at Derek. Somehow she had acknowledged Scott as her alpha, but she still looked to Derek for confirmation. “Because even if I think Stiles is a bit too much sometimes, he’s rarely wrong.”

Stiles grinned. “Thank you, Erica, for that vote in confidence.”

Derek snorted and turned his back on them. “I don’t know. We’ll look into.” He looked at Scott. “Right?”

Scott nodded, after looking at Stiles for a second. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll go talk to Deaton, see if he has anything to say about this.”

Stiles sighed. “Alright. You do that. I’ll make some calls. See if anyone I know have some intel about this witch.”

They all looked at him and he threw his hands out. “I went to college, alright. The supernatural isn’t all located in this town, believe it or not. I met some people.”

Boyd lifted a brow. “Some people?”

“Yeah. Some people. Who knows about the things that goes bump in the night and stuff like that.” He looked at them, refusing to tell them anything else. “I’ll go make those calls now.” He found his jacket and pocketed his phone. “I’ll let you know if I find something useful.”

He looked over to Derek, who nodded at him before he left.

-

Stiles wiggled a little, yes he wiggled a little, shut up, to find his footing and turned his palms up as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

He was out by the clearing where they had met the witch, trying to get some more answers out of the prints embedded into the ground.

Simon, a friend from college was a witch, or warlock, and he’d told Stiles how to connect with something so that he could experience the situation again. Like pressing a repeat-button, just using his spark and collaborating with nature.

Stiles didn’t have a spark, no matter what Simon said. At least not like Simon had magic. But he had done things with wolvesbane and mountainash before and he’s experimented in college.

No, not like a lot of people experiments in college. It was a bit more than that. Or different at least. With magic and his meditation-exercises. He was still painfully human and would never be as strong as many of the other people he’d met in college but he could do this.

So here he was, alone in the woods hoping this would work. He put all of his concentration and belief in that this would work. And suddenly he felt something tug in the corners of his mind.

It became clearer as minutes flew by and after a while- Stiles had no concept of how long he’d been standing like this- he could see the witch and his pack in his mind. The scene playing out like he remembered it.

Sweat was starting to run down his neck and he could feel a drop or two roll down his back. He was standing there without a shirt and no shoes, to connect better with the earth and air. He took another deep breath and gave his mind free leash to re-live the situation that had unfolded there a week ago.

What he saw was from another point of view than he had had back when they actually met the witch. The eyes he used now were behind some bushes and he could clearly see Boyd, Derek, Scott, himself, Allison, Deaton and Jackson stand in line in front of the witch. Lydia was standing a bit behind them. The eyes flickered between Scott and Derek, like they couldn’t trust who the leader of the pack was.

In his mind, Stiles could hear the witch say it was to revenge a loved one and he was filled with a sorrow so overwhelming that he struggled to breathe. The grief overpowered everything and the person Stiles observed from shuddered before taking a hold of their feelings and turn his eyes back on what was happening. After a while, green light shot around the witch and the eyes closed, only to open to see Derek shout for Lydia to help Stiles away, since he had just been hit by a branch falling down.

There was the reason he hurt his ankle, Stiles thought and almost lost the sight he had in his mind. He rolled his neck and concentrated again, not noticing how his whole body was covered in sweat from what he was doing.

“She’s getting away!” he heard Scott shout in his mind and through the eyes of the person in hiding he saw Derek, Jackson and Boyd tear off after the witch, who now had gotten away from them.

Stiles took a deep breath and opened his eyes after a minute. He knew a lot more now than he had known before. “I was right.” he mumbled as he slowly let himself come back to the now. “There was someone else out there that night.”

“Who?”

Stiles whirled around and almost fell to the ground from it. This magic-thing or whatever it was that he had done, had taken more out of him than he thought. “Derek?” He squinted at the person standing by the edge of the clearing. “What are you doing here?”

Derek started walking towards him and Stiles found his shirt and tried to pull it on, but Derek stopped him. “I didn’t know you had tattoos.” Derek said looking at Stiles’ torso.

“I didn’t want you to know.” Stiles noticed the hurt in Derek’s eyes, even if Derek was quick to cover it up. “Not just you. All of you. It would be-“ he started but stopped to think about his answer. “They’re mine, you know. I wasn’t ready to share them with all of you just yet. I’ll probably get more. In time.” He let his shirt drop to the ground and swallowed, looking for understanding from Derek. He wasn’t ashamed of his tattoos, he was proud of them. He had gotten some of them for protection while he was away from his pack and some of them he had gotten because it reminded him of his pack and the people he loved. They all had meaning though, they all were embedded into his skin for protection or to be used in protecting the people he loved.

“I can see all of us in them.” Derek said, almost reverently. “Not faces or anything, but we're all definitely there." Derek just looked at the tattoos. "It’s beautiful.”

Stiles swallowed and blinked a few times. “I- You think so?” The tattoos covered almost his whole torso, front and back and over his shoulders but couldn’t be seen if he wore a t-shirt.

“Turn around.” Derek asked before looking up to meet Stiles’ eyes. “Please?”

Stiles turned around.

Feeling the other man’s fingers ghost over his back, following the lines of his tattoos, Stiles closed his eyes and knew that Derek would see the tattoo that was painted low his rib-cage on the left side. Stiles knew the second Derek noticed it by the hitch in the other man’s breath and the fingers trailing the triskelion.

Stiles turned so he was standing with his left side turned to the werewolf.

Derek looked up from where his eyes trailed the triskelion and to Stiles’ eyes. “You- Why?”

Stiles shrugged. “It means so many things. Alpha, beta, omega. Past, present, future. It’s yours.” He felt himself shiver and could feel how cold he was getting. And how tired he was. “I need to get some rest. This really took the energy out of me.”

Derek let the subject drop. He just nodded and picked up the shirt and gave it to Stiles. He also picked up Stiles’ backpack and followed him silently to the Jeep. “I’ll drive you home.”

Stiles gave him a quick smile after shrugging his shirt on. “Thanks. I think that’s for the best, I’m kind of dizzy actually.”

Derek just gave him a look and took the keys Stiles held out for him.

Stiles nodded. Derek was Derek, weird revelations about tattoos and magic or not. “I’ll tell you what I saw on the way back, alright?”

The other male just nodded once and started the car.

-


	3. Chapter 3

“So what you’re saying is that you know that there was someone else out there?” Jackson said as he leaned forward in his chair. “How do you know?”

Stiles looked at his pack and swallowed. He didn’t really want to tell them that he’d tried something he never thought would work and that he had meditated himself into re-playing the situation. That seemed far-fetched, even for him.

Derek took a step away from the wall he was leaning against and straightened up. “I smelled something out there and told Stiles.”

Stiles whipped his head around to look at the beta. “What?”

Derek ignored him and concentrated on Jackson, who was watching them with an unconvinced frown. “The scent was duped somehow, but it was there. Between the bushes to our left.”

Scott frowned. “Are you sure?”

Derek just leveled him with _a look_ before walking over to his chair to sit down.

Isaac, who had been looking intently at Derek while he was talking, sat up with a surprised look in his eyes. “You’re lying!” He looked at the rest of them. “He’s lying. Why would you lie to us about something like that?”

Stiles noticed the hurt flicking over Isaac’s face while Lydia got up from where she was seated and threw her hand out towards Derek. “If he’s lying, then there’s probably a reason. But something is going on that he’s not telling us.” She looked between Derek and Stiles.

_Too perceptive that one_ , Stiles thought fleetingly.

Lydia pursed her lips and blinked a couple of times. “What I care about knowing is; who was this person that was hiding? Who is the person who uses that witch to help him? Or her.”

The pack looked at each other. No one knew the answer to that. But Isaac continued to look at Derek with a betrayed expression and Stiles couldn’t handle that look on Isaac. Not from the guy that had actually come back here because Derek, his first alpha, had come back.

“Guys.” Stiles cleared his throat while Derek looked at him with big eyes. “Guys, I was the one that found out there was someone out there besides us that night.”

“You?” Erica said and Stiles nodded. “Yeah, me.”

“But- how?” Lydia asked, cocking her head.

Stiles scratched the back of his head and grimaced. He would have liked to have kept this to himself for a little while longer. At least until he knew what it meant, exactly. He didn’t want to tell them only to let them down when they understood he knew shit about how he managed to do the things he did.

“The thing is, when I went to college I met a lot of different people. People who knew about the supernatural stuff that we’ve had to deal with.” He smiled a sad smile. “We’re somewhat famous out there, for all the shit we’ve been handling in this town actually.”

“We are?” Erica said, smiling a bit.

“Yeah, but anyway; I met a guy named Simon who’s a warlock. He taught me how to meditate. I’m not even taking my Adderall anymore. I don’t need it. Because of what he taught me. He said he could sense something in me, not quite a spark yet but almost.” He paused and tried to find his words. “I don’t know how this will progress, but I’ve managed to protect myself through-“ He stopped before trying again. “To put it simply; I’ve managed to do that with concentration and belief in what I’m doing. I,“ He looked at Derek, who just nodded in support, and continued. “I have my ways. I don’t know how to explain it any better than that.” He looked around the room, on his friends, and all he could find was acceptance. Well, some of them seemed a little surprised, but this was new to them.

Scott put a hand on his shoulder and Stiles turned his head to look at his best friend. “Deaton told me a few years ago that you had something. It worked along with the wolvesbane several times, right? So, he told me that you might, one day, ignite the spark in you or something like that. And it seems to me that you already have.”

“He said that?” Stiles spluttered. “Well, it would be nice to know about that, dude!”

“I know. But he made me promise not to tell you. At least not back then.” Scott looked a little apologetic but Stiles sighed deeply.

“I’ll have a talk with him tomorrow.”

“Anyway,” Allison said. “Back to the person that was hiding. What can you tell us about him?”

“Her, actually.” Stiles mumbled and froze. He hadn’t known that until he said it. Shit, this was way over his head.

“Well, her. What can you tell us about her?”

“She is the one that will revenge a loved one. That’s all I got. I felt an extreme grief, enough to make someone insane from it.”

He looked at Lydia that was resting her hands on her hips. “Well, then. Who could she want to revenge?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles said, feeling a little better after telling his friends about what had been going on with him these last couple of years. He still couldn’t believe no one had noticed, but he had become pretty good at hiding things. And lying, something he didn’t like doing to his friends. Honestly, he couldn’t lie to them because hello werewolves. But he had eluded a few facts.

“Maybe it’s someone who we’ve encountered,” Lydia said with certainty. “It has to be someone who we’ve met not that long ago.”

“We’ll check out our books,” Stiles said with a smile.

They had started writing everything down a few years ago, it was a lot of things that had happened and they had figured out it would be wise to put it in writing should they need to look back into it. And now that came in useful.

“Alright. I think that’s enough for tonight,” Scott stated with a nod.

After a while it was only Scott, Stiles and Derek left at the loft.

“Why didn’t you tell us what you were going through, Stiles?” Scott asked, sipping a beer on the couch.

“Dude, don’t overestimate my so called spark.” Stiles grinned but Scott just kept looking at him so he tried answering the question. “I don’t know. It just felt like something I needed to do on my own, you know.” Stiles ended up saying and looked at his friend.

“I get it,” Scott smiled. “I’m just glad you told us. I better get home; mom’s probably waiting for me.”

“Shouldn’t you move out soon, Scott?” Stiles grinned. He knew Scott was looking for a place to live with Allison. But he couldn’t help but mock him a bit. Best friends still had some prerogative to do that.

“Well, you still live with your dad so,” Scott said, not missing a beat. “See you later, dudes.”

Scott had grown into his true alpha-ness and it showed in how he led his pack. But to Stiles he was still the dude with the dopey grin.

Stiles looked over to Derek, who was sitting by the windows.

“Why didn’t you tell them?” Derek said after a beat.

“About my tattoos?”

“Yeah.” Derek got up and walked over to the couch where Stiles was sitting.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” Stiles shrugged. “It’s personal, kind of.”

Derek nodded. “Okay.” He sat down next to the human and looked over at him. “They’ll see them though. One day.”

“I know. It’s not like I’m trying to hide it from them forever.”

Derek gave him a small smile and Stiles hoped the wolf wouldn’t notice the skip in his heartbeat.

The door to the loft slid open and Cora walked in. “Hey.” She came over to them and lifted a brow. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m about to head home.” Stiles said and got up.

“Don’t leave on my account. I’m just getting something to eat then I’m off to bed,” she said and walked into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

Stiles fished his keys out of his pocket and watched as Derek got up as well. “See you tomorrow, Stiles.”

“Yeah. ‘Night.”

-

Two days later they had several suggestions on who it was this woman wanted to revenge. But they couldn’t narrow it down to more than three people. Or creatures.

One was a vampire, but that was highly unlikely to be the right one. He’d traveled alone and didn’t come from a nest or anything. A vampire omega sort to speak.

The other one was a man who could transform into this slimy, stinking thing no one knew what to call. With him, they had no idea if this man could be the one that was to be revenged, seeing how he had been in his slimy form when they had met him. He’d been feeding on blood from kids and then absorbing their bodies into this slimy-blob-shaped thing so that nothing was to be found afterwards.

The third one was a woman. A hunter, who had been close to killing both Erica and Isaac a few months back.

But Lydia had her doubts. She couldn’t let the thought of why Isaac and Erica had been targeted. She had told the rest of the pack about how the witch had talked about needing their powers. And from the information that Stiles had found the witch needed claws, strength and the other heightened senses werewolves had. To revenge a loved one.

Stiles was sitting on his bed thinking it over, when he straightened up and got over to his whiteboard. “If they needed the powers of werewolves, maybe Isaac and Erica were just a convenient choice. Maybe it's not directed at us at all. Lydia really is a genius.” He fumbled with his phone in his rush to call Scott, but ended up connecting the call as he stared at what he’d written. “Hey Scott!”

“It’s Derek. What is it?”

Stiles looked at his phone. He could swear that he’d meant to call Scott. “Hey, man. I thought I called Scott. But anyway; what if Erica and Isaac was targeted just because they were werewolves.”

“That’s not exactly news, Stiles.” Derek said on the other end and Stiles kept walking around in his room.

“Yeah, but what if the revenge isn’t directed towards us at all? What if- and here’s the real question- what if they just needed the powers to go against the ones who really wronged them. And with the powers they could get strong enough to revenge this loved one. Whoever that may be.”

“Alright, Stiles, I need you to talk slower. I can’t understand half of this,” Derek said a little more alert now.

Stiles repeated it and waited for Derek to answer. He heard Derek start his car before he answered. “I’m coming over. You might be on to something. Call Scott, tell him about your theory.” Then he hung up.

Stiles looked at his phone. “No goodbye or nothing. Not that I’m surprised.”

Then he called Scott and told him the same thing.

“Are you sure?” was Scott’s reaction.

“I think so,” Stiles answered. “At least it’s a probability.”

“I don’t know, Stiles. It seems pretty.. far off.”

“Really? Really, Scott? Well, do you have other theories? I’m trying here.” Stiles loved his best friend. Always had, always would. But sometimes it was hard not to be a little hurt when his friend dismissed Stiles ideas as easily as he did. Scott was a good alpha, but he was also a bit new in the game. Even after four years.

Derek walked into the bedroom while Scott was contemplating what to do with Stiles’ theory. Stiles grinned. “Using the front door and everything,” he mumbled even if Derek glared harder than he had in a long time.

“What?” Scott said and Stiles sighed.

“Nothing, Scott. Just- think about it, alright? Talk to you later.” He hung up and looked over at Derek.

“He didn’t think it was worth checking out.” Derek stated, not asked. They both knew their alpha well.

“What do you think?” Stiles asked slowly.

“I think we should see if some other packs near our territory have killed someone who could fit our case.”

Stiles felt relief surge through him. He knew it showed by the way Derek ducked his head and turned towards the whiteboard. Sourwolf still had some trouble feeling like a part of a pack and when someone showed they were grateful for something he said or did, he still became a little embarrassed. “I’ll make some calls.” Derek said after a while.

“Thank you.” Stiles said quietly and went over to his laptop. This would be a long night.

-

“Why is this so difficult?” Stiles tried to push the uneasy feeling away, but couldn’t help but to think about Scott, who in the end had come to the conclusion that Stiles might have had a point, and was now two towns over meeting with the two packs that could be on the ‘to revenge’-list.

Next to him, Boyd just glanced at him before looking back on the road. The whole pack would go to meet up with Scott and Derek, who had left a few days prior to inform the two packs about their suspicion and to warn them.

Stiles leaned back in the passenger seat and closed his eyes. Derek was the one who had managed to get in contact with the packs close to Beacon Hills, and who had gotten them to share information about the things that had happened in their territory. The Hale name still held respect for most werewolves and opened quite a few doors. Or information in this case. And if it hadn’t been for Derek trusting Stiles hunch, then this would never had come to play.

The Lester-pack had informed Derek about a warlock they had killed after he had tried to kill the whole pack in his desire for power. The other pack, the Chandler-pack, had just killed a woman named Haley, who had been stealing people’s energy. She had been something as rare as an incubus, but instead of feeding of sexual energy she had started taking energy, as in all human energy, from people in their town. She had killed at least seven people. All of them in their mid-twenties, when the energy is on its highest. The Chandler-pack was known for rarely killing people who trespassed into their territory. They were hard but fair and held a great amount of respect from other packs because of that. So Stiles had no doubt that killing this Hayley-lady had been their last resort.

Stiles was curious about having so many werewolves in one place. Too much hotheaded people. And with three Alpha’s in one place- Stiles felt somewhat nervous. Even if Scott had called to tell them how well his meeting with the two other alpha’s and second in commands had gone. But they were gathering because there was a worse threat against one of their packs than some growling and fighting between packs.

“We’re here.” Boyd said and while Erica woop’ed as a large house came into view. Stiles held his breath as they parked the car and got out while at least thirty sets of eyes were on them. There were people sitting on the porch, on the lawn and the stairs leading up to the house but clearly having their attention at the newcomers. _Werewolves,_  Stiles thought and felt his shoulders relax minutely as Derek made his way down the stairs and towards them.

“You’re here. Scott and the two other alpha’s are waiting for you in the living room,” A small pause. “Stiles.”

“What?”

Erica rolled her eyes, although it was pretty fond. “He was talking to you.”

“Why are they waiting for me?”

Derek stepped a bit closer and met his eyes. “Because you’re the one with the theory and the-“ he stopped and lifted a brow. “-and the encounter with the person working with the witch.”

Stiles opened and closed his mouth several times before squaring his shoulders and nodded at Derek. “Alright. Lead the way.”

-


	4. Chapter 4

“That was interesting,” Stiles said after the meeting walking into the kitchen, closely followed by Scott and Derek.

“At least we’re on the same page. Whoever it is that is coming after one of these packs, we’ll be working together.” Scott said pleased and poured himself some orange juice.

They had been welcomed to stay at the house and make themselves at home, something Scott seemed to have done. This was all new to them and they felt a little on edge –werewolf politics and all- but the two other packs seemed polite and genuinely interested in having them there. As previously said; werewolf politics.

“The witch, Kiera, seems nuts if you ask me.” A beta from the Chandler-pack sauntered into the kitchen and turned on the stove. “Anyway, I’m the chef for the evening. Hope you like steak.” He grinned and looked at Scott, tilting his head in respect before opening the fridge.

“I like steak.” Scott said with a polite smile before he took his glass and left the kitchen.

Stiles watched as the beta lined up the ingredients and started preparing the steak. Or steaks. A shitload of it, by the looks of it. The beta followed Stiles line of sight and chuckled. “We’ll be over thirty people to dinner so this is just the half of it.”

Stiles raised his brows and whistled. “You’ll be cooking the whole evening to make enough then.”

The beta smiled. “Nah, Will is bringing the rest. He’s preparing it in his house. Not enough room in this kitchen for all that food and the two of us.” He looked at Stiles. “I’m Jimmy, by the way.” He held out his hand and Stiles shook it.

“Stiles.”

Jimmy nodded. “Stiles. Heard the name from Scott, your alpha. That your real name?”

Stiles snorted. “Nope.”

“Would you tell me your name then?”

“Nope.”

Derek shook his head and took a step closer to Stiles who was grinning at Jimmy, who tried coaxing the name out of him. “Not even my pack-mates know my name, dude. Don’t take it personal.” Stiles said in the end, just as Jimmy was finishing cutting the vegetables. “Wow, did you rob the whole store of food or what?”

Derek snorted and looked at the chef. “Stiles real name can’t be pronounced even if you really tried.”

Stiles gaped. “How do you know that? Wh- how?”

Derek just shrugged and folded his arms over his chest with a cocky smirk on his lips.

“Derek. Tell me.” Stiles prompted.

“You told me.” was all Derek said and Stiles frowned.

Then he remembered. He’d told Derek a long time ago. It was right before Derek came back. Stiles had been drunk. So, so drunk. And on a whim he’d called Derek’s number, thinking it still was disconnected.(Not that he’d tried calling it before. Much.) But then it hadn’t been disconnected. And suddenly Derek had answered and then they had ended up talking longer than Stiles could remember ever talking on the phone.

At first it had been just drunk rambling on Stiles part and short grunts on Derek’s part. But then, after a few bottles of water on Stiles end, it had become a conversation about everything that had happened in Beacon Hills since Derek left and what Derek had been doing while he was away. And somehow, in some weird way, it had been the most natural thing to tell Derek about how Claudia had insisted in calling him something Stiles thought sounded just like the word ‘mischief’.

Why hadn’t Stiles remembered that until now?

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I forgot!” Stiles exclaimed and gaped at Derek, who tried to hide a smirk. “Well, you were pretty drunk.”

Jimmy laughed. “Wow, I sense a story there. But tell me his name, and I’ll try to pronounce it.”

Derek just lifted a brow at the other beta and then left them in the kitchen while Stiles shook his head. “Nah, he’ll never tell, dude. I trust him.”

“Good for you.” Jimmy said with a knowing look.

-

After dinner, that had been surprisingly normal and calm, Stiles went out to the porch for some fresh air. He needed two minutes to himself. Being in a house full of werewolves who were all a little on edge was exhausting.

He sat down on the swing and kicked his feet on the patio to make the swing go back and forth.

“Ah, you must be from the McCall-Hale pack.” someone said and Stiles turned his head towards the voice.

A man in a cowboy hat came towards him over the lawn and up to the porch. “I’m Lyle. The Chandler pack’s emissary.” The man held out his hand for Stiles to shake.

“Um, nice to meet you?” Stiles said, about to take the man’s hand when Derek came through the door and onto the porch, looking at Stiles.

“Hey, Derek. Everything alright?” Stiles asked and Derek visibly calmed. “Yeah, I just heard your heartbeat- Everything’s fine. Scott’s asking for you.”

The man known as Lyle chuckled. “He’s not, but it’s fine. I’m perfectly harmless. I just wanted to meet your emissary.”

“I’m not the emissary-“ Stiles said, just as Derek said: “He’s not my emissary.”

Lyle looked between them. “All in good time, I see.” He mumbled. “Let’s go inside, shall we?”

“Weird.” Stiles said when the man had gone inside. “You okay, man?”

“I’m fine.”

-

“-and when Isaac came back from France, Allison came back as well. They had been travelling a bit with her father, Chris.” Scott said as they were seated in the large living room later that night.

The two other packs had told their stories and now it was Scott’s turn. Scott was working on how to be the best alpha for his pack and over the years he had managed the art of getting along with other packs as well. It had earned him a lot of allies these last few years, and it seemed to work splendidly in this situation as well.

“Chris Argent?” the alpha of the Lester-pack, Al, said. “I’ve heard about him. Keeps to the code. Didn’t like his father though.”

Isaac nodded. “Neither did we.”

Scott looked at the two other alpha’s. “Chris Argent keep honor to the code. Allison is a part of our pack and he respects that. When Derek decided to come back, Isaac returned as well. And Allison was supposed to come back after a year in France anyway. We all went to college. But we came back as often as possible. Malia, Boyd and Erica stayed close to Beacon Hills, along with Stiles and I. Lydia went to MIT, Jackson in a college close to Lydia. ” He paused. “We might not be the largest pack, but we manage.”

Al looked at Erica and Boyd that were seated on one of the many couches. “You chose a college close to your territory, I heard.”

Boyd nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

“And you lived as a coyote for eight years?” he asked, looking at Malia.

“I did. I didn’t go to college, but I took some online courses.”

“Wise.” was all the alpha said and seemed satisfied in their answers.

After what Stiles liked to call the information-exchange, the Lester-pack went to a hotel nearby while the McCall-pack had been offered to stay at the Chandler-pack house, seeing that they weren’t that many. Malia had a hotel-reservation thanks to Peter while Lydia and Jackson had already booked a hotel-room before knowing they were offered a place to stay. The rest thanked the Chandler-pack for their hospitality and went up to the second floor.

The emissary of the pack, Lyle, showed them to their rooms. “It’s a big home, but we count 22 members of the pack so it’s needed. But we have three rooms for you. I believe both the alpha and his second already has their rooms but take your pick on who’ll be sharing with whom,” he said and left them to themselves.

“We’re taking this one.” Erica said coming out from one of the rooms. Boyd took their bags and followed her back inside.

Scott showed Allison the second one that he’d already slept in the night before.

As for Stiles and Isaac- they had to share with Derek in Derek’s room. It had the biggest bed and a not so awful couch so it wasn’t that bad. Isaac grinned when he noticed that the couch could be made into a large bed, so he threw himself down in the madras and kicked off his shoes. “I’m taking this one. God, I’m beat.”

Stiles looked at Derek, who shook his head at the other beta before rummaging through his bag and disappeared to brush his teeth.

“Do you think the witch will come here?” Isaac asked as Stiles pulled off his shoes and socks. He grimaced at the socks, before throwing them into a corner. Isaac rolled his eyes but waited for an answer.

“I don’t know. Even if we know who she is and that they’ll attack, we have no clue to whom they’re after. We’re all here in Chandler’s territory. But if she’s after someone in Lester’s pack-“ he shook his head. “We need more information. And we don’t have that. Not unless we can, somehow, manage to come in-“ he stopped and made a face.

“What? It looks like you got an awful idea.” Isaac said slowly, looking at Stiles with skeptic eyes.

“What if we can contact her. The witch, I mean. Kiera.” Stiles looked at Isaac. “What if we can find her phone number or something? She’s a witch, sure. But she needs a phone to keep in touch with people. She’s also a person, ergo she also needs stuff like a place to live- so that means an address. She has to have a phone. Right?”

Isaac nodded, still looking a bit skeptical. “I guess.”

“We’ll see if we can find it tomorrow.” Derek walked into the room and sat down on the bed opposite Stiles.

“If we can talk to her, maybe we’ll sort it out without a fight.” Stiles said.

“Probably not.” Isaac mumbled into the pillow. “Witches, man. I don’t like them.”

“Neither do I.” Derek agreed. Stiles huffed and got up to brush his teeth. This would be a long night. Sure, he and Derek had become friends as well as pack-mates. And sure, Derek had, once or twice, fallen asleep in Stiles bed after a movie-marathon. But this was different. Now they were deliberately sharing a bed.

When he came back, the room was dark and he could hear Isaac breathe heavily. He shuffled into the bed and got under the sheets. He could feel warmth from where Derek was occupying half of the bed. “This is weird,” he whispered.

“Shut up and go to sleep, Stiles.”

“Sourwolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: A lake, some information about the witch and some getting to know the other packs.


	5. Chapter 5

After two days living with another pack ,the whole McCall-pack was a little restless. Especially Derek for some reason. Stiles gathered it had something to do with being a born wolf and this wasn’t how wolves usually did things.

Stiles had tried finding the witch’s contact address, but seeing that all they knew about her was her name and her powers, they had little to nothing to go on. It was not as they could call every Kiera in the country. Stiles had checked, it was too many people called Kiera. The sources that had led them to her name and what powers she had as a witch, didn’t know anything else than what they had already told them.

Matthew, the Chandler-pack’s alpha had been so hopeful about Stiles idea so it was a real bummer.

Allison came into the study where Stiles and Erica was sitting. “We’re going out on a hiking-trip. All of us. Ria knows about a lake where we can swim.” She smiled. “It will do us some good. It’s not easy being cooped up here, seeing how many wolves that’s here.”

Erica shot up from her chair and was out the door before Stiles could blink. “I guess so,” he said and followed Allison.

Two hours later, Stiles was ready to shoot himself. “How much further?” he asked Ria, Matthew’s wife.

She laughed when she saw how sweaty he was. “We’re almost there.” She gave him a bottle of water. “Five minutes, tops.”

“Oh, thank God,” he mumbled, both for the water and for the information.

When they got there, it was almost a tight fit. Three packs, most of them wolves, and they all wanted to swim in the lake at once. So here they were, 22 from the Chandler-pack, 14 from the Lester-pack and 10 from the McCall pack.

“Thank God Peter isn’t with us,” Erica mumbled, looking at the people swimming in the lake. Isaac nodded, looking at the same scene behind sunglasses. “This would have become a disaster if he’d come with us.”

Jackson, Boyd and Isaac were already in the lake cooling off, goofing around and showing off strength or something with some of the betas from the other packs. Soon Allison, Erica and Scott followed suit. Not with the showing off part but with the swimming part.

Stiles watched as Lydia put up a chair. “How did you manage to bring all of this?” he asked but Lydia just smiled like the goddess she was before sitting down. They watched as the other betas tried to outdo each other. Stiles thought it was pretty weird- it was like they were all trying to best the others in what pack were the strongest and most powerful one through diving and play-fighting.

Derek huffed quietly before looking away from them. Stiles grinned and bumped his shoulder. “Sure you don’t wanna show them your party-trick?”

Derek rolled his eyes as Stiles chuckled at the offended look he got. He could almost hear Derek say that him _turning into a full wolf wasn’t a party-trick, Stiles._

Stiles would have loved to take a swim, but he didn’t want to take his shirt off. He felt sweat start to roll down his neck and he dragged a hand over the back of his head.

Lydia put up a parasol and Stiles looked at her with admiration. “I have no idea how you managed to drag all of this out here, but I love you for it,” he said as he found himself a spot under the parasol. “Sharing is caring, Lyds.”

Lydia just looked at him over her sunglasses and opened a book.

-

An hour later, Stiles was sweating like crazy and had already dodged the questions about why he wasn’t swimming with the rest of them.

Scott was sitting with Al and Matthew, probably comparing their alpha-ness and Stiles pulled on the hem of his shirt.

“Why are you wearing a black t-shirt, doofus?” Jackson asked as he sat down next to Lydia.

“I didn’t know it was this hot outside. The house has amazing air-condition.” Stiles looked longingly at the people who were still out in the water. Some of the betas were on guard-patrol, they didn’t want to take any chances with the witch. But the others were all out in the lake, even Lydia had dipped her toes in the water to cool down.

Suddenly he was picked up and wrestled down to the edge of the lake while he squirmed and giving his most colorful words on the treatment. Stiles was a long way from the lanky kid he had been at sixteen but against a born wolf? He lost.

“Derek-I-am-superior-of-you-in-my-wolfiness-Bastard! Stop throwing me around, I know you probably feel the need to show off your wolfy-powers but-“ and he went under water.

Sweet relief, the water was cold and just what Stiles needed.

He broke the surface, and looked at Derek who was standing with water to his ankles, looking proud. And smug. The asshole.

Stiles had to pinch himself to hide his amusement. He would not give Derek the satisfaction in seeing him smile. “I don’t have the muscles, Sourwolf, but I will end you somehow. I’m smarter than you and I’ll find a way,” he shouted but Derek just lifted a brow and went back to his towel.

The others laughed and whistled and Stiles decided to stay where he was.

He ended up lying on his back, finally cooling down and enjoying himself. Even if his jeans were heavy and almost made him sink several times.

-

On their way back, Stiles came up next to Derek and touched his elbow. “I know what you did,” he said and Derek looked at him. “Back at the lake.”

Derek just made a humming sound and Stiles gave him a quick smile. “Thanks.”

Stiles had connected the dots while he was floating in the lake. Derek was the only one who knew about his tattoos. He knew that Stiles didn’t want anyone to see them. He also knew that Stiles’ tattoos wouldn’t show through a black, wet shirt. So he’d done what was in his mind helpful.

Stiles watched Scott look back on them and Stiles gave him a smile. Wet jeans was so worth it.

-

Later that day, they were all gathered in the living room. It was a tight fit, but they made it work. The Lester-pack kept to the left side of the room while Stiles and his pack were standing by the windows to the right. The Chandler-pack were in between, scattered around on couches and chairs. Some were standing though, it was a crowded room.

“Today has been a nice experience,” Matthew started. “We all needed some space and we needed to be together. I will be so frank and say it has strengthened our friendships and alliances.” He looked to both Scott and the alpha of the Lester-pack, who both nodded. “But this is not only a social call, this is to make a united front against the witch Kiera and whoever it is that is out for revenge. I have faith in Stiles from the McCall-pack when he told us about his theory. At first he thought it was their pack the witch was after, but he had a theory that it was more than that. The witch tried to take the packs strength and power for revenge. And unfortunately Isaac and Erica were hit by the spell.” He looked at the two betas, who seemed a little uncomfortable by the attention. Matthew continued in a lower voice now. “But Stiles and Lydia think she was out for the powers of werewolves so she can revenge a loved one. And that she is not operating alone. I have made some calls and I believe that she is working with a woman named Cassandra.”

Almost in sync they all sat up straighter by the news and Matthew continued. “An old friend of mine called just now and he had heard I was looking for information on a witch named Kiera. This woman is a born witch with white magic. As in good magic. So the strange thing is how someone could have turned her so she would do something like this. My friend told me that Kiera is rumored to have been befriended by this Cassandra, who is also a witch. But she was stripped of her powers after she summoned a demon.”

Whispers broke out and Stiles swallowed. He pinched himself to be sure he wasn’t in an episode of Supernatural. This was insane.

Matthew raised his voice and people quieted down. “Demons do not exist, not like they are portrayed on television, but it was a form of it.” He frowned, as if he didn’t really know how to explain it. “According to my friend, it was some kind of magic-demon. I’m not sure how it works, but anyway- The demon is long gone and there is no indication that it will be a problem. The problem however lies in that when her fiancé died, Cassandra fell into a depression and as a result summoned the demon to get her fiancé back. When Cassandra then lost her powers, she fell even deeper into the depression and is now bordering a psychotic break. And to make things worse, her fiancé was killed by us.” He blew air out through his nose in irritation. “Unfortunately. Because Hayley, the incubus we told you about, was also Cassandra’s fiancé. She killed over seven people. And she tried to take members of my pack. We have prided ourselves in being hard, but just. In this case, we had no other choice but to kill her. She was after my pack and I would not tolerate an attack on us. ”

Derek looked at Matthew with a frown. “But she’s after the Chandler pack, then?”

The alpha nodded. “That’s what my contact believes.”

“So all of this comes from someone who’s delusional?” Scott asked.

Stiles looked out the window. “The sorrow is all-consuming. It’s hard to think straight when you carry so much sorrow with you.”

He felt Derek take a step closer to where he was seated and looked at him. “Stiles, if you-“ Derek glanced around the room before continuing. “-try the same thing you did when you found there were two people out there that night. Do you think you could locate her?”

Stiles snorted. Yes, he snorted. Because this? Way over his paygrade.

Lyle, the emissary from the Chandler-pack stepped forward. “If I may; I think I can help you. But you are the one who can do it since you was the one to sense her in the first place. But I can give you some guide lines.”

Stiles looked at Scott who nodded, before looking at the Chandler-alpha. “I need all the help I can get, if I’m supposed to figure something out.”

-

The next night, Stiles stumbled into the bedroom and almost tripped into bed. He had spent the whole day with Lyle, trying to learn as much as possible in the short amount of time that they had. They hadn’t tried the location-spell yet, but would do that as soon as possible.

Sinking into the madras, Stiles groaned in exhaustion.

“You shouldn’t overdo it, Stiles. You’ll need it to find her. And when the time comes; to fight her,” Derek said beside him and Stiles couldn’t even manage an answer. He had overdone it, and he knew it.

He wiggled around and managed to kick his pants off before trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. He felt a hand on his arm and sighed when he felt himself relax and his mind go quiet.

“I’m not in pain, you don’t have to do that, you know.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Derek said and was about to remove his arm.

“Oh.” He lifted his hand and made Derek keep his hand on his arm. “It’s okay.”

Then he fell asleep.

-

At four in the morning, Scott came into the room. “Guys, get up. Darren and the rest caught their scent while they were running the perimeter.”

“When?” Derek was up and in his clothes before Stiles and Isaac even managed to sit up.

“Just now.”

-

“It’s 8 in the morning and no one has seen them,” Will, the beta from the Chandler-pack said as he burst into the kitchen.

“Any leads other than scent?” Allison asked sitting around the kitchen-island along with Lydia, Stiles and some humans from the other packs.

“No. Nothing. And that’s what bothers me,” Will said as he poured himself some coffee.

“Where are the others?” Lydia asked, sipping her coffee.

“They’re coming. Alpha McCall said we should have a meeting to sum it all up before getting some rest.” Will took a sip of his coffee. “We know they are here, because of the scent. It had magic in it, it’s hard to explain. But it has to be her. Kiera.” He said the name with a snarl and Stiles could see how tired the beta was.

Jimmy, the cook from the other night, came barging into the kitchen and kissed a woman sitting next to Stiles. He thought her name was Linda, but there were so many names that Stiles had a hard time remembering all of them.

“Found anything?” Will asked Jimmy.

“No. Nothing but the scent. It seems like she’s been pretty close to the house as well. Matthew says meeting’s in ten.”

-

“To sum it all up: higher number on patrols, we’ll strengthen our protective wards and hope this will be over soon.” Matthew looked at the crowd in front of him, everyone was tired but still on the alert. They worked well together, even if it was three different packs. It was interesting to see.

Al dragged a calloused hand over his face. “But attack is the best defense. We’re not supposed to sit here and wait around like we’ve done so far.”

Matthew nodded. “In a way I agree with you, but we are dealing with someone whose powers are unknown to us. Our magic-users need the time to prepare themselves, as well as our betas.”

Al nodded, still unconvinced and Matthew sighed. He had been the alpha of his pack since he was eighteen. He knew how to lead his pack safely. Al was a good alpha for his pack, if maybe a little hotheaded.

Matthew looked over to the McCall pack. Even if McCall was the alpha, a lot of them have had Hale as their alpha first, and that bled through the betas reaction to orders. Scott McCall had made the right decision in making Hale his second. They worked surprisingly well together. McCall was a rather new alpha, while Hale was a born wolf. The kid had a lot of help from Hale that was for sure. But they made it work. That was the most important thing.

The Chandler-alpha looked at the human Stiles. He was an enigma. Matthew thought he knew what to think about him, but then Stiles said or acted in another way than anticipated and threw Matthew on a loop. Stiles Stilinski seemed relaxed, even with his somewhat spastic movements and quick mouth. He had managed to balance his spark and his human side. He was interesting, to say the least. But Matthew wondered if his packmates really knew just how much potential that lived inside this male. He suspected Hale was the only one that had noticed. And just how much did the human know about mates? Matthew wondered before he sent everyone but himself, Lyle and Jimmy to bed.

The three of them would take the first shift before setting up patrol-lists.

-


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles could hear a phone ringing in the distance, and he groaned before rolling onto his back, blinking his eyes open.

“-he told me he talked to you a week ago.”

Stiles looked over to Derek who was sitting next to him, the sheet pooling around his waist.

Derek looked over to Stiles, who raised his brows in question.

“Deaton.” Derek mouthed before answering whatever question Deaton had.

Stiles sighed and took a moment to let his eyes follow the lines of the triskelion on Derek’s back as the wolf got out of bed. The tattoo moved when Derek moved and Stiles had to look away to avoid certain thoughts. Or reactions. He looked over at Isaac, only to find that bed empty. A phone was held out to him and he took it.

“Hey, Deaton.”

“Hello Stiles. I heard they caught her scent.”

“Yeah. We’re setting up stronger wards. I was thinking if Lyle should set up some warning-wards so we’ll know when she crosses close to where we are.”

“Good thinking. But you should do that alongside him. All of the emissaries should work together on those protection wards, seeing you have three different packs in one place. And while magic can be strong on its own, it’s better when you make the wards with the people you love in mind.”

Stiles frowned. “But I’m not the emissary.”

“You might not be Scott’s. But you have the spark, as I’ve told you before. And if you use it, it strengthens. It will help your pack.”

“Might not be Scott’s? So I am an emissary?” Stiles asked and Derek got back up and walked over to the windows.

Stiles watched the man and almost missed Deaton’s answer.

“That is a conversation for another day. How are Isaac and Erica?” Deaton asked.

“They seem fine. Pissed off from what the witch did to them but other than that, they seem to do alright.” Stiles sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you find anything on this Cassandra?”

Deaton made a thoughtful sound before answering. “I’m afraid not. But keep in mind that the woman isn’t evil. It’s the grief that has made her thirst for revenge.”

Stiles sighed. “Yeah, well she’s not going to be getting a warm welcome by the thirty or something wolves around here.”

“I’m afraid so,” Deaton said. “Goodbye, Stiles. Remember to believe.”

Stiles put the phone away and threw himself back against the pillows. “What time is it?”

“Just past noon,” the wolf answered. “We should get dressed.”

The rooms were soundproof so they couldn’t hear anything from downstairs, so when they opened the door, they were met by a chaos of voices and people everywhere. Seeing as the threat was near, all of the people in the three packs had decided to stick together.

“This is going to be interesting,” Stiles mumbled as he and Derek made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, bypassing someone arm-wrestling while others betted on them.

“Tell me about it.”

-

“All you have to do is believe,” Stiles murmured as he finished the wards around the territory. Lyle had just finished his wards while the emissary from the Lester-pack, Jody, had finished hers. Stiles felt the energy surge through him before it settled. He felt content. Huh.

“This will do,” Lyle said with conviction.

“It better,” Jody murmured, collecting her stuff. A few wolves were with them and while Jody had claimed they didn’t need protection, none of the alpha’s wanted to take any chances. Isaac and Derek stood near Stiles, while Will and Alfie had come with Lyle. Jody had Holly and Tooth with her even if Tooth seemed to keep his distance to Jody. It had something to do about why his nickname was Tooth, but Stiles hadn’t managed to get the whole story. Jody could be pretty harsh when wronged and that was all Stiles needed to know.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s get back,” Lyle said and took a deep breath with his eyes closed before doing some gesture Stiles thought looked a bit weird. But he didn’t question it, he had felt Lyle’s powers when they set the wards. He was a strong spark, no doubt about that.

“Do you feel alright? You smell tired,” Isaac asked, sticking close to Stiles on their way back to the house.

“I’m fine. Just a little thirsty. I’m not used to this kind of work,” Stiles said, following the path through the forest. “At least not in this scale.”

Alfie, one of the betas from the Chandler-pack snickered, probably overhearing their conversation.

Isaac let out a warning growl and Stiles rolled his eyes. “I’ve never claimed I was an emissary, so calm your claws. There’s no need to be condescending or protective.” He looked at Isaac and Alfie, who easily ignored him to glare at each other.

Alfie seemed like a cocky guy, like he hadn’t quite settled into the pack and therefore had no idea how to behave around other packs. At least that was the feeling Stiles got. Derek came up next to Isaac and discreetly walked in the way of the eye-glaring that was going on. “Enough.”

It seemed to work, both betas turned their eyes forward and Stiles was once again baffled how much power Derek seemed to hold, even if he was a beta now. An evolved beta, but still- the other packs didn’t know about that.

On the way back, Stiles ended up next to Derek who walked a bit slower to keep Stiles in company. Stiles hadn’t lied when he said he felt a bit thirsty. But now he was a bit dizzy as well and the walk back took the rest of the energy out of him. He took hold of the hem on the lower back of Derek’s shirt and let the wolf lead the way as he trudged behind him.

-

“I’m fine now, you don’t have to keep checking up on me,” Stiles said when Derek, for the umpteenth time peaked into the bedroom to see if Stiles was still sleeping.

“I wasn’t checking up on you,” Derek claimed. “The dinner is ready.”

Stiles swung his legs over the edge of the bed and smiled. “I’m starving.”

“I saved you some food, before the others eat it all,” Derek said grimly.

“You did?” Stiles grinned at Derek, who held the door open for him. “Awesome. Is it barbecue I smell?”

“Yes.”

“Sweet.” He let his hand strife Derek’s arm to thank him and the wolf fought a smile as he went out to the others.

-

“Dinner was really great.” Stiles heard Scott say to the others.

“The steak was pretty good. Sauce as well,” Boyd contributed. He was a quiet man, so when he said something, he usually meant it.

Jimmy, the beta who used to cook, preened. “I know right. I’ve perfected the sauce through a lot of trying and failing. I’m getting a hold on it now though.” He put his arm around Linda, his girlfriend, who shook her head with a smile.

“You shouldn’t have told him that. His obsession with that barbeque-sauce is well-known in our pack.”

“Secret recipe?” Lydia asked. “Peter, Derek’s uncle, is a pretty good chef.”

“It’s a secret alright, I’m not telling,” Jimmy said with a laugh.

“Too bad. Peter would have loved to try it out some time.” Lydia was the only one that managed to have a somewhat normal conversation with Derek’s uncle. The rest of the pack barely tolerated him, even if he had made up for his earlier madness. He was still a creepy motherfucker, at least in Stiles opinion.

Jackson shook his head. “I would never eat something he’d made.”

“Shush, Jackson. You love his cooking,” Lydia said with conviction and Jackson shook his head again.

“Never.”

“Just because Peter is after your girlfriend doesn’t mean he can’t cook. Even I have to admit he’s a great cook,” Erica teased, grinning at a glaring Jackson.

“Who’s Peter, exactly?” Al, the alpha of the Lester-pack asked.

“My uncle.” Derek clenched his jaw and knew his name would be known in these circuits.

“Ah. Thought so. Didn’t you-“

“Kill him? Yes, he did. But Peter is a zombie or something.” Stiles said with a grimace.

“Interesting,” Al murmured. “And why isn’t he here?”

Scott sipped his beer before answering. “He’s staying back in Beacon Hills while we’re away. Cora is also there so.”

“Cora?” Matthew, the other alpha had also joined their conversation and Stiles could feel Derek tense beside him. He knew that the wolf didn’t like to talk too much about his family, even if these two were the ones that were alive.

“My sister.”

Matthew and Al both turned to Derek, who held himself rigid.

“The Hale’s are three in number, but none of them alpha,” Al said thoughtful.

“I gave up my powers to save my sister,” Derek said low and Stiles decided that was enough.

“So, Cora and Peter, even if he is a bit of the rails, are looking out for our land.”

“But Cora is not in your pack?” Matthew asked.

“She’s family,” Scott said with conviction and that was that.

The two alphas steered Scott into another conversation about their plan to stop Cassandra and while Derek had relaxed a bit more, Stiles leaned a little closer to the man hoping it would comfort him some. Talking about family, alive or dead, still was a sore subject for Derek. He didn’t trust anyone about information about those who still lived. And he didn’t like to talk about those he lost, it still was hard to reconcile with their deaths.

Later, after Isaac had fallen asleep, Stiles let his hand trace the triskelion on Derek’s back until he felt the wolf breathe a little deeper. “Get some sleep, Derek. You have the morning shift,” he said softly.

It was quiet for a long time and Stiles had almost fallen asleep when Derek answered. “Thank you.”

Stiles didn’t really know what he was being thanked for, but fell asleep with a smile nonetheless.

-

The next afternoon Stiles was outside walking with Allison and Boyd when he felt a feeling creep up the back of his neck, making the hairs stand out on his skin. “She’s here. Something happened to the wards. Where’s Lyle? Jody?”

He looked around and Boyd was already running into the house to tell the others. It was just before dinner-time and while some of them were out patrolling, the rest was gathered inside the house.

It was like they all burst out from the house at the same time, while Allison ran into the house to get her arrows.

Matthew, Al and Scott ordered their betas into groups. Two groups would go out and locate her, then inform the rest and then they all would go into battle if needed. The humans were to stay inside with a few betas, who would be on stand-by should the witch and Cassandra come that close.

Stiles looked for Derek, but couldn’t find him but he saw Scott and ran up to him. “Where do you want me?”

Scott looked at him. “Sure you can do this?”

“Can you?” Stiles countered.

The alpha blew air out his nose. “Alright. Go with Lyle and Jodi. You have a plan, right?”

“The same plan we’ve been over a hundred times,” Stiles nodded and felt another chill run up his neck. “They are getting closer.”

Lyle came up next to them and his eyes were brilliantly green. “They’re coming.”

The first two groups had obviously found them and some of them had been injured. Or killed. Stiles didn’t know, but from the roar Matthew made, someone in his pack was hit. “Let’s get ready, Stiles,” Lyle said before sprinting into the woods behind the house.

Stiles took one last look at Scott and followed the other emissary.

Where the hell was Derek?

-


	7. Chapter 7

They didn’t have to wait for long. A few hundred meters from the house they found the one’s they were looking for. Stiles could see them through the trees as they weaved their way through the trees, closer to them. And while he and the two other emissaries had come up with a good plan, he didn’t feel like it would be good enough.

“Believe, Stiles.” Jody squeezed his shoulder and nodded to him.

Stiles swallowed. He could do that. He had to.

The three of them crept closer to the crowd that had gathered in front of the witches. He could glimpse wolves from the first two groups lying scattered around. Hopefully not dead.

Kiera was standing there, holding some kind of protection over herself and Cassandra. She didn’t look too confident, Stiles noticed. He looked closer at her face. “Hey, Lyle? Does she seem scared to you?”

Lyle squinted at them. “Who? Cassandra?”

“No, Kiera. The witch. She didn’t seem like this when we met her back in Beacon Hills. She seemed confident and proud back then.”

“So?” Jody asked. “She’s on the wrong team anyway.”

“Yeah, but- Just look at her. She’s looking at Cassandra like she’s scared of her. Or of what she can do.”

“Did you bring me a present?” they heard Cassandra say. She was small in size but her presence was overwhelming. “All of these just for me. To make up for your wrongdoings.” She paused. “But it’s not good enough!” She took a couple of steps towards them. “It’s not good enough to bring her back. I loved her!”

“Who?” Al asked, buying them some time. “Who died?”

She laughed. “You haven’t even told them, have you?” she said, searching for the one she held responsible. “Ah, there you are. Hiding behind you alpha.”

The crowd didn’t move, but held their eyes on the witches.

“You’re dying, Greg. Now everyone you care about is dying too.”

“What do you mean?” the beta asked as he came forward, looking pretty shaken.

“Like I promised, Greg. Kill her and you will suffer.” Cassandra looked around. Looked all of them in the eye, one werewolf after the other. “We’re going to kill all of them. One by one.” She looked back at Greg, who was now looking like he was about to attack. “I warned you, Gregory. Do not mess with me.” She cocked her head. “But yet- you did.”

“I killed her because she had killed seven people! She threatened to kill my pack!”

“She didn’t. She couldn’t have. I was a witch who served nature. Who served the good! And even if she was a succubus, she never would have hurt anyone! And if she did try to kill you it was because you’re all monsters! You make the world unbalanced,” she spat.

Matthew stepped closer to his beta. “If you are to blame someone, blame me. I was the one who ordered them to take her out.”

“Matthew-” the beta started.

“We had to stop her. She killed those innocent people, took all their energy. Their lives,” his alpha continued unwavering. Matthew looked at Greg. “You had your orders and your reasons.”

Greg nodded. “Yes. I- She said she would go after us, my pack. Because we have more energy, more power.” He tilted his neck to his alpha. “I did it to protect you.”

“I know.” Matthew looked back to the witch, who had kept quiet during the conversation. “I am the alpha of this pack. Greg is a good beta, a good person. He would not have killed her if it hadn’t been his last resort.”

“Hayley was also a good person. She would never have killed anyone.” Cassandra said with conviction.

Stiles noticed how Kiera kept looking between Cassandra and Greg, like her own conviction was wavering. Stiles had just finished his part of the plan and brushed of his hands. The powder he had used would make a circle around all of them, trapping only the witches. The wolves were supposed to retreat back over the line and the Lyle would set off the trap so Kiera’s powers wouldn’t reach them. It would strip her from her powers while she was in the circle. It was a good plan. Ish.

Stiles stepped forward, coming up next to Scott. “Kiera?” he asked. “It’s your name, right?”

The witch looked at him and he could see pearls of sweat running down her neck.

“It has to be so exhausting keeping that protection up, huh?” he asked. Something was off about her.

“Do not talk to her!” Cassandra demanded. “You are not allowed to speak. I am here for Greg. But now that I have you all gathered, I’ll kill you all.”

“You can’t kill us,” someone in the crowd said. “There’s only two of you and almost forty of us.”

“Oh, if you think we’re alone you must be dumber than you look,” she said with a cold grin.

Suddenly they heard several growls around them. “Fucking hell,” Jody said perplexed. “That’s why she didn’t come until now.”

From the shadows they saw at least fifteen werewolves come to stand behind the witches.

“She’s been gathering werewolves,” Scott mumbled. “They look like my betas did after they were hit with the spell.”

Matthew and Al growled low in their throats, red eyes trained on the witch in front of them.

“That’s why she wanted Isaac and Erica,” Stiles whispered to himself. “Holy shit. She didn’t want their powers, she wanted to control them.” He looked over at Scott and the two other alphas. They all knew what had happened with the two betas, how they had forgotten everything since they were hit by the spell.

“You’re a clever one. I’ll give you that,” Cassandra said, pointing towards him with a finger. “At first I thought that if I could just steal their powers and take them into me, then I wouldn’t need my own powers that was taken away from me. But then I managed to figure something out from that mishap,” she said, looking at Erica and Isaac, who growled in return. “Oh, don’t be so touchy. I’m sorry, alright. You’re all back to normal now.” Cassandra smiled, but Stiles concentrated on the other woman.

“Hey, Kiera. What does she have on you? Why are you doing this?” he asked but Kiera refused to look at him. But he could see the way his words had affected her. The almost invisible veil she had up protecting her and Cassandra, wavered before strengthening up again.

Scott looked at Stiles. “Her heartrate went up when you asked her that.”

“It certainly did,” Matthew mumbled and stepped forward before raising his voice. “Cassandra. We do not want a fight, nor do we want anyone to get hurt.”

“Oh, that’s rich. Seeing as you killed my fiancé,” Cassandra said. “Now!” she screamed and Kiera made a swish with her left hand and the brainwashed werewolves attacked.

Stiles was pushed back and he lifted his bat. “Derek, where the hell are you?”

Between the three packs and the fifteen werewolves, it weren’t a fair fight for the foreign werewolves. But they had witches on their side, and Stiles saw Alfie sail through the air only to land on the stem of a tree. The way he screamed and the way his bones sounded, it was not good.

“NOW!” Lyle screamed and Stiles ran backwards. They couldn’t trap the foreign werewolves, but they could trap the witches.

He felt the circle go active and just as one of the unknown werewolves were about to attack Scott- again- a black wolf rammed into the attackers side, knocking him over. The large teeth bit into flesh and Stiles looked around. He had to help the rest of them.

Cassandra was trapped inside the circle, as was Kiera. The shield Kiera had held up, wasn’t working and Stiles could see Cassandra shout at Kiera, who tried her best but to no avail.

Matthew came from Stiles left and attacked someone who had been seconds away from ripping into Stiles.

“Thanks,” he said in a hurry, before swinging his own bat. He didn’t have claws, but he had his bat. It was covered in runes and symbols, making the hit worse for the one he was fighting. “Ria, look out!” he warned, just before bashing his bat into a very angry werewolf while Ria got back on her feet. He felt Derek close to him several times and he was thankful that the wolf kept close to him.

“Shit. It’s breaking!” someone shouted and Stiles looked over to the witches.

They had, somehow, managed to break the circle and now shit really was about to go down.

He didn’t think, he just reacted to what he suddenly just knew he had to do. Walking closer to the circle, he concentrated on the earth and the air around him. Feeling the wind pick up, he opened his eyes and looked straight at Kiera.

She was concentrating on killing now, Cassandra clearly commanding her. Green flames burst through the air, intent on killing one of the werewolves. Some of the green had a red color to it and Stiles didn’t think that was a good thing.

“Well, shit.” Stiles let his spark through his body, feeling his tattoos wriggle like a brush against his skin.

“You!” Cassandra looked at Greg, the wind working against her. “I’m going to get my revenge! Hayley was killed by you monsters and she didn’t deserve to die.”

Greg couldn’t hear her because of the wind, but Stiles could.

“She became a murderer, Cassandra,” he said low, knowing she would hear him. The air let his words come through the wind.

“She was my fiancé!” Cassandra screamed. “I can’t lose her!”

“Revenging her death will not make her come back,” he said.

“Take him out!” Cassandra ordered Kiera.

“Try me.” Stiles somehow smoothly shrugged off his hoodie and let his runes and tattoos help his spark. The spark was more connected with him now somehow and Stiles decided to work with it, not against it. He just hoped it wouldn’t get his friends killed. With the powers Kiera seemed to have and the power he could have mixed with the other emissaries, this could end badly.

The werewolves Cassandra had with her, had all been killed or captured. The rest of them had been driven back by the energy in the air only Lyle and Jody managed to walk through it and came up beside Stiles on both sides.

“You should have told us,” Jody murmured and Stiles frowned.

“Told you what?”

“How strong your spark is.”

Stiles looked down on his tattoos only to see them move slightly, like they were alive. His brows went up in surprise. They had never moved before. Not when Stiles could see anyway.

“Enough of this!” Cassandra said and shoved Kiera forward.

Stiles closed his eyes and let his spark guide him. He felt calm. He could do this. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed both Lyle and Jody’s hand.

He felt something warm against his leg. Derek. “You’re here,” he breathed. He felt the wolf’s head nudge him in confirmation. “Good.” He swallowed. “I just have to believe. I believe.”

How long they stood like that he didn’t know, it was like the power went back and forth in the space between Kiera and them. They pushed energy towards Kiera.

Kiera pushed back and Stiles felt his knees go weak for a second. He felt sweat run down his back and he bit his teeth together. He could hear the wind howl and branches breaking from the stem and fall to the ground. Some wolves made distressed sounds, but Stiles didn’t waver in what he was doing.

He heard Lyle whisper silent words he couldn’t make out the meaning of. But it felt like it helped them somehow.

In Stiles mind it was like their magic were in a push and pull fight with Kiera’s magic. Whoever lost would get knocked out by the blast of energy. He did not want to be on the losing side. And how had Kiera managed to get so powerful? She was a born witch, yes. But this was a frankly impressive show of powers. Jodi, Stiles and Lyle were three people, two of them who had spent years getting as strong as they were now. Stiles had only just now started using his spark for real, but together they were strong. But Kiera was just as strong. Alone.

Stiles could hear Cassandra’s panicked voice but couldn’t make out her words. He could feel Jody’s grip in his hand begin to weaken and he pushed more energy out towards Kiera. Suddenly he felt a blast of power and he fell to his knees, gasping for air.

When he opened his eyes, Kiera was lying on the ground and the wind had calmed a little.

He searched for Cassandra, and saw her running away and the anger he felt just then made him react on instinct. He thought about what Isaac and Erica had gone through, and what these poor werewolves had gone through, and flung some powder in the air and sent it Cassandra’s way.

He looked at Derek. “Take her.”

Derek pushed passed Lyle, who was breathing heavily after what they had just done.

The wolf sprinted after her and had no trouble catching up with the woman. She went down with a scream and when Derek had gotten her to keep still Stiles nodded at the wolf, who looked like he was close to a smile. Well, as close to a smile as a wolf could smile that was.

Then it was lights out for Stiles Stilinski. Even with a spark, his batteries had just gone empty.

-

A wet lick over his chin make him frown. Another lick and a ‘wouf’.

He grimaced. “Whaaaaaat?” he mumbled weakly.

A bark made him open his eyes just so he could glare at Derek. “Really, dude? I’m right here. Don’t bark into my ear.” He managed to sit up. “Are you trying to deafen me?”

Derek sat down next to him, so that he could lean his weight on the large wolf. “Jesus Christ and Merlin on a friggin moped, I’m exhausted.”

Scott came into view with a grin on his face. “Hey, dude. I was worried there for a minute.”

Stiles could see the rest of the werewolves standing around them, although not so close.

Jimmy tried to come closer but Derek growled a warning, making the beta stop. “Alright. Not coming closer. You are a really huge wolf, man,” Jimmy looked from Derek to Stiles. “You alright there, mate?”

“I’m good. Just hanging out, taking a breather.”

Jimmy gave him a tired smile. “The rest of us are taking the injured ones back to the house. Cassandra is at the house as well and Kiera had to be sent to the hospital. Will, Amy and Erica went with her.”

“Is she going to be alright?” Stiles asked, hoping he hadn’t killed the girl.

"We think so.” Scott answered. “She just got knocked out. I think.” Scott frowned. “What did you do, really?”

They were almost alone by now and Stiles took a deep breath to clear his head. “I- um- don’t know? Where is Jody? Lyle?”

“Lyle fell unconscious, we’re bringing him back to the house. Jody is walking back with some help from Lydia.”

Derek growled and woofed again, making Stiles almost fall backwards. “Alright, we’re going back to the house. Fine,” Stiles said, clambering to his feet with the help of Derek and Scott. “It feels like I’ve been running a marathon.”

Derek gave him a look telling him just how much he didn’t like how drained Stiles was, and the human rolled his eyes. Only to have the wolf push him, albeit gently, forwards. With help from his best friend and Derek, who just barely tolerated Scott helping Stiles, he got back to the house and into the shower.

He leaned against the wall and let the warm water rinse off the sweat, dirt and blood. He heard a scraping on the bathroom door and he finished his shower and somewhat hastily dried himself before opening the door to a grumpy looking wolf.

“What?” he asked the wolf. “I was in the shower.”

Derek lifted a brow before looking towards their room and Stiles snorted. “I am going to rest, believe me.” He turned to put on deodorant but was head-butted in the knees. “What? So the question about deodorant is a ‘no’?”

A glare.

“Who knew the wolf you is as moody as the human you. I should have known, when I think about it.”

The wolf looked close to giving him closer knowledge to his teeth and Stiles grimaced. “I’m going, I’m going.” He followed the wolf into the room, exchanged the towel with boxers and crawled into the bed.

“Come here,” he said and the wolf, although glaring, hopped onto the bed and curled up so that Stiles could drape himself around him. “Better,” Stiles mumbled and didn’t even have to open his eyes to see the lifted eyebrow he got in return.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This.. almost went according to plan. But what did you guys think? : )


	8. Chapter 8

When he woke up, it was early morning or something like that.

He looked out the window. It was still dark, so it couldn’t be necessary to get up. Thank god. His limbs felt like they were made out of stony jelly. If that could make any sense at all. But it was the way he felt, so shut up.

He snuggled down under the sheets again and dragged his chin against his pillow. Wait. That wasn’t a pillow. He lifted his head. Derek. Not in wolf-form. Stiles looked down, only to see the sheets covering Derek from the waist down. But he knew that no wolf-Derek probably meant no underwear. Or pajama-pants.

Well, shit.

This could become a problem. His body was still made out of stony jelly, but something was about to become more stone than jelly. Alright, abort mission! Abort, abort!

He rolled on his back and looked over to where Isaac was sleeping. He looked like a puppy. Well, a pretty bad-ass puppy but either way. He was a puppy like Allison was sweet. Until she used her bow, then she was scary as shit. The same went for Erica. Not Boyd though, he never looked sweet. Neither did Jackson. He was just a douche. A friendly one, most of the time. But still a douche.

Stiles lifted his own sheets. Problem fixed, thank you.

He glanced over to where Derek was lying. “I-“ Stiles started, but how to explain that he’d just checked if his boner had gone down. Awesome.

Derek lifted a brow and smiled. Not the charming smile. Or the real smile. But the cocky one. Bastard.

“Shut up and go to sleep,” Stiles whispered and resolutely closed his eyes, lying on his back. He wasn’t even lying that comfortable, but hell if he was to move now.

“I didn’t say anything.” The wolf smirked.

Stiles opened one eye, only to see the man a lot closer than he had been when Stiles closed his eyes. “What are you doing?” he asked in a hushed whisper, a little out of breath. Derek was so close that he was resting his head on Stiles pillow and Stiles turned so they were almost nose to nose.

Eyes looked into the others. Dipped down to glance on each other’s mouth. Shit. Was this really happening? With Derek Hale. Which one of them it was that closed the distance first, they could never agree on in the future. But the important thing now was that they were kissing.

When Stiles swiped his tongue over the wolf’s lower lips, Derek gasped and Stiles exploited that opportunity to its fullest. He licked into Derek’s mouth, their tongues exploring, sliding together.

“Stiles,” Derek said, voice hoarse and the slightest bit shaky. Wow. He had made Derek Hale react that way. Holy shit.

Derek swallowed. Wet his lips. And Stiles was about to lean closer when; “Isaac.”

Stiles looked at Derek. “What?”

“Isaac’s sleeping in the same room. We can’t. It’s not right.” Derek retracted his hand that had been resting on Stiles thigh. Wow, Stiles was in quite the position he noticed. “Not with him in the room.”

Stiles looked over to Isaac, who was thankfully still sleeping. “Yeah, yeah. I totally agree.” He unclenched his hand that had been gripping Derek’s ass pretty tight right until now. Huh. “Wow, um, sorry about that.”

Derek smiled, the soft smile Stiles noticed. “Don’t be.” A soft smile from Derek had happened exactly once before and Stiles could remember the when and the why. And now it had happened again and it made his head spin.

“So that happened,” Stiles said, again resting on his back. It wasn’t until now that he registered how fast his heart was racing and how shaky he felt. Screw stony jelly, this was better.

Derek lay on his back as well and Stiles felt Derek’s hand land next to his. After contemplating weather or not to grab hold of the hand, because what did this even mean and what if’s, Derek huffed and did it for him.

“Good night, Stiles.”

Awesome.

-

“Good morning,” Allison said as Stiles walked into the kitchen the next morning. Or day. He knew he had overslept. But he was exhausted.

“Morning,” Stiles was handed a cup of coffee and almost purred as he took the first sip. “Where is everyone?”

“They’re discussing what to do with Cassandra and Kiera,” Allison said, looking at him. “Why didn’t you tell us about your spark?”

Stiles looked at her then. She looked curiously at him but her eyes had some uncertainty in them. He put his cup down on the kitchen island with a shrug. “I didn’t know I had one, to be honest. I’ve been meditating and trying to just kind of go with it, you know? I told you that,” he said with a shrug.

“All of us were pretty surprised. What you did yesterday wasn’t because of some meditation,” she said carefully, like she was genuinely interested but didn’t want to impose. “And those tattoos-“ she said but stopped when Derek came into the room.

“Hey,” Derek said as he went over to the coffee-pot. He hadn’t met Stiles eyes and the human felt a little nervous.

Allison disappeared from the kitchen with some excuse but Stiles could only concentrate on Derek.

Stiles took a sip of his now cold coffee just to have something to do. “Am I allowed into the meeting?” he asked slowly.

Derek looked from over his shoulder. “Of course. We’re almost done though. We just let you sleep in because we figured you could use the rest after what you did yesterday.”

“I didn’t do it on my own. Lyle and Jodi did one hell of a job as well,” Stiles said, sliding off his chair and put his cup in the sink.

Derek turned to him and caught Stiles’ arm. “They just got up as well. Hey,” Derek looked at him and Stiles couldn’t stop himself from looking into the man’s warm eyes. Derek seemed kind of in loss of what to do and Stiles blew air out through his nose.

“I’m fine.”

“Good.” Derek nodded to himself. “Good. I just- We should probably talk.” Derek squeezed his arm before letting go and Stiles sagged against the countertop. “But later.”

Was Derek Hale nervous? Stiles hadn’t known that had been possible until now.

Stiles nodded. “Alright. We should. Talk I mean. But,” he tilted his head and looked at Derek through his lashes. “Was that, I mean, do you-“

“Regret it?” Derek asked, eyes softer than Stiles had ever seen from him, before taking a step closer. He was really close and Stiles could feel the heat radiating from the wolf. The human drew a shaky breath and hesitantly grabbed the fabric covering Derek’s stomach, tugging him a tiny bit closer. Derek went with it and Stiles felt himself relax.

The wolf smirked. “I don’t regret it, alright?”

A hand found its way around Stiles neck and moved him so that their foreheads met. Stiles gave him a quick smile and lifted his brows.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

-

Stiles walked over the lawn behind the house some time later and squinted up towards the sun. Jimmy had informed him that he was to talk to Kiera. Stiles looked from the sun and towards what looked like a shed by the end of the property. Kiera had been brought there after she was released from the hospital and had been questioned by the alphas all day. Not that she had said much.

Lyle had tried coaxing her into telling them why she had helped Cassandra and he had done better than the alphas, but there were holes in her story. Jodi opened the door just as Stiles was about to enter and he jumped back.

“Hey, wow. You scared me.”

Jodi smiled but it was a tired one. “Sorry. She ain’t talking. Lyle seemed to get her to open up, and suddenly –bam- she zipped up.” She shook her head in irritation. “I don’t know. But you try, maybe you’ll get to her.”

Stiles smirked. “Aren’t most emissaries supposed to be all mellow and calm?”

Jodi snorted. “They might be,” she leveled him with a cocky look. “But I ain’t most people.”

Stiles chuckled. “True,” he looked behind Jodi and saw another door inside the shed. “Guess it’s my turn then.”

“Good luck, kid.”

He passed her and knocked on the door before walking inside. Just to find a stairway leading down. Underground basement then. Huh. He walked down and noticed how big it was. This had to have at least five couches and a small kitchenette. A couple of tables and some lamps. Clearly the Chandler-pack had funds or something. Making this had to have cost a lot of money. But now it came in handy. It was some sort of hiding place. Probably if hunters came or something else happened during an attack. Not bad.

The room was pretty big and held three other doors. Bedrooms maybe? He whistled. Not just a shed then.

Someone must have heard him whistle, because the door across the room opened and Al came out. “Hey.” The alpha went over to the small fridge and took out a beer.

“How is she?” Stiles asked.

“Quiet,” the alpha snorted. “Not saying much to anyone now. She’s been given food and something to drink but won’t take any of it. She started talking with Lyle, the Chandler-emissary. But something just- I don’t know,” the alpha took a sip of his bottle. “Suddenly she just stopped. In the middle of a sentence and everything.”

Stiles frowned. “Huh, weird.” He looked at the two other doors. “Where’s Cassandra?”

Al nodded towards one of the other doors. “In there.” He raised a brow. “Why?”

The human shrugged. “Nothing. Just thinking.” He went over to the door where Cassandra was held. He looked at the alpha and questioned him with a gesture if he could open. “Go ahead. She’s sedated.”

“Really?” Stiles questioned.

“We don’t take any chances. We don’t want her to hurt herself or try to escape. We still have questions for her to answer.”

Stiles still thought it was a little unnecessary but didn’t voice it. He’d ask Scott or Derek to find another way. They wouldn’t get to talk to her if she was sedated. He opened the door and after a minute he came back out. She was heavily sedated by the looks of it.

Al excused himself and disappeared up the stairs just as Scott came out from the room where they held Kiera.

“Hey dude,” Scott said with a strained drag over his eyes. This had obviously been a long day for all of them.

Stiles nodded towards the room where Cassandra was sleeping. “She needs medical attention and help to make her work through her grief. Not being held and sedated by us,” he whispered low enough so the other wolves wouldn’t hear him.

Scott frowned but nodded. “But we need some answers.”

“Well, we won’t be getting shit from her if they keep her drugged,” he looked at Scott intently. “We know why she has done this. I have felt the grief she carries.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know she attacked us and that she was very wrong in doing so. But she’s not well. She needs treatment for her depression and frankly for her psychotic break.” He took a deep breath, not really knowing why he had become so angry on her behalf. But it had been something majorly unsettling watching her lying on the bed, breathing unnaturally deep as people did when they were drugged.

“Dude, calm down. The lights are flickering,” Scott said while he squeezed Stiles shoulder reassuringly.

“Sorry, sorry. I just- I’ve felt what she felt, you know. And we know that she was depressed because of her loss. And- I don’t like what she did any better than you do. But she wasn’t-“ He stopped but Scott understood.

She wasn’t insane. She was sick. Just like Stiles’ mother had been. Depression and a psychotic break wasn’t the same as dementia- far from it actually- but Claudia had been depressed in the early stages of her illness as well. And Scott knew that Stiles had firsthand knowledge to how a person could change when they were that low.

The true alpha nodded with a determination in his features. “We’ll get her to a hospital or something. We’ll call Deaton, ask if he knows a place where they have knowledge about both her illness and magic.”

Stiles nodded. “She was stripped of her magic.”

“I know. But even if it’s gone, she still had magic. And maybe she misses it. Maybe that is also a reason why she went as overboard as she did.” And that right there, ladies and gentlemen, was why Scott was the best friend ever. Also a good alpha, but more so an awesome friend. Sometimes he could almost say what Stiles was thinking. He listened, even if he could be a knucklehead sometimes. Stiles told him as much and got a hug in return.

“Alright, bro. I’ll go make a call to Deaton while you try talking to Kiera,” Scott said before he went upstairs.

Stiles took a few slow breaths before knocking on the door to Kiera’s room.

“Enter.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello? Is anybody still here? Life happened, and work happened.. but I hope you like this chapter? *biting nails*


	9. Chapter 9

Stiles was sitting out on the porch after dinner when Derek sat down next to him on the swing.

“Hey,” the wolf said, looking out into the dark night.

“I couldn’t get her into telling us anything,” Stiles said in a tired voice. It had been a really long day. Days, really.

“I know.”

They sat there in comfortable silence for a while and Stiles kicked his feet slowly against the floorboards to make the swing move. Derek actually let them swing back and forth for a while, before stopping it with a foot on the ground.

Stiles just grinned. “Now I’ve seen everything. Sourwolf on a swing,” he plucked on the string on his sweater. “I can’t believe you let me.”

“Shut up.” The words were hard but the hand that stilled Stiles’ one was not. It was warm and reassuring. “I heard you got Cassandra moved into a psychiatric ward,” Derek said after a while.

Stiles looked at the man next to him, trying to read the expression. He started to get a hang of reading stone by now anyway so.

Derek turned his head so they were face to face. “She couldn’t have told us anything we didn’t already know.” His face held the same blank mask, but Stiles could see hazel eyes go softer. “Good call.”

Stiles felt his whole body relax and he held onto the hand covering his. “Thanks for backing me up back there.”

“They know they didn’t have any use for her anyway. It was just them being stubborn.”

“Either way, thanks.”

The moment was quiet and so, so soft. Stiles turned his head to look at Derek, his face relaxed and Stiles thought he could see something akin to hope in them. Was Derek really hopeful about him? About them? Stiles seriously couldn’t wrap his mind around it, because he’d never been looked at like that before. It wasn’t-

He couldn’t stop his hand from lifting towards the other man’s face, hesitating a little, not knowing for sure if it’s really welcomed. His hand shook, just a light tremble, and his hands never trembled. Not like this. Or because of something like this.

Shit.

He’s started to realize he was in trouble. Deep trouble.

His hand settled on the side of Derek’s neck, thumb at his jaw. “This is unexpected,” is what came out and Stiles internally groaned.

But Derek just leaned into Stiles’ touch, breathing. “Maybe.” Derek looked down on Stiles chest. “Your heart is pounding.”

“As previously said; unexpected. Kind of intense feeling, dude.” He chewed on his lip, seeing the wolf track his movement. “Maybe not unexpected,” he amended. “More unimaginable. I’ve never thought about this before. Or never let myself imagine it, maybe.”

A slow smile tugged at Derek’s lips, not cruel or mocking. Just understanding. “Yeah.” He withdrew a second later and his head whipped around to glare towards the woods.

“Here you are,” someone said coming over the lawn.

It was Brian, one of the betas from the Lester-pack. He looked at Stiles. “You’re the one who sent Cassandra to the nut-house.”

Stiles sat up a bit straighter. He’d never talked to this beta before, even if they had collaborated for days. Brian had always kept a little to himself. But he was Al’s son, so they all held respect for him. He’d one day become the Lester- packs alpha.

“I wouldn’t call it that, but yeah. She needed help and we’re not it,” Stiles answered, wondering what this was about.

Brian came up to them and leaned against the rail, looking at Stiles with something akin to mocking. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for a softie there, emissary.”

“What is your problem?” Derek bit out and Brian chuckled, holding his arms up.

“Nothing. Nothing. Just asking. We could have made her talk, you know.”

“How so?” Stiles asked with a tilt to his head.

“Why she made that witch do her bidding for one. Secondly, why did she think revenge is the best part. We’re werewolves, we should have given her the same treatment as any other threat to our pack gets.”

Stiles shook his head. He had always known that the Lester-pack was a little more aggressive than both the Chandler-pack and his own but this was just bullshit. The beta was picking a fight. But why?

“What is it that’s really bothering you?” Stiles asked. “Brian, was it?” He got up and put his hands in his jeans pockets to seem non-threatening. He didn’t want a fight, but he didn’t accept someone picking on him either.

Brian’s halfcocked grin slid off his face and he stepped closer to Stiles. “Why do you have so much power in how we handle this? You’re just a human in a pack of wolves.”

Stiles should have known this had to come. Brian had kept to himself, never spoken to anyone outside his pack. When Stiles thought about it, he’d never seen Al in a conversation with his son. Other when he was giving orders.

“This adds up, really,” Stiles said, looking the werewolf straight in the eyes. “The alpha’s son, but never seen as one. You want the power he has; you think you’re entitled to the respect and power that comes from leading a pack.”

And holy shit, he’d hit the jackpot. The beta growled and Stiles could feel Derek coming up to them but the human held a hand out to stop him.

“Brian. I do not hold any power over what the three alpha’s decide to do. I only voice my thoughts and theories when I think I’m on to something. I substantiate those theories with a shitload of research and stuff like that. I’m human, but I have a voice in my pack along with the rest of my pack-mates. As do you, in your pack.” He looked at Brian, who still seemed seconds away from ripping him a new windpipe but Stiles really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “Talk to your alpha,” he said, letting his energy- spark or whatever- work around him for protection. “He’ll listen.”

Brian snorted. “You don’t know my father.”

“Do you?” Stiles asked and suddenly he was thrown over the rails and landed on the lawn. “Ow. Motherfu- Was that really necessary?” he protested, feeling his shoulder throb. He sat up and looked over to where he had been standing moments ago. “Derek, no! Let him go.”

He ran over to Brian, who was sprawled out on the porch with a huge, black wolf on top of him. Teeth millimeters away from the beta’s neck.

“Derek, stop. Now!”

Stiles looked at Brian, who actually had the intelligence to show his neck to Derek, telling him he was no threat. Well, not anymore.

“I thank you for helping me but this is- Dude, you can let him back up now,” he stated.

Derek turned his head to glare up at him with a look that told him otherwise. Stiles ignored that look completely and turned his attention to Brian, who held still like he was frozen. Stiles was tempted to say something about a good puppy, but even he knew when not to say it. Most of the time. Even if he really wanted to.

“Brian. I guess your problem is not with me. Or Cassandra,” he stated more than asked.

Brian just swallowed hard. “I just- wow, that’s some pretty big teeth.” He looked away from Derek and to Stiles. It was like the air had gone out of him. “He never listens to my suggestions,” he admitted and Derek backed up so Brian could sit up. “I’m not stupid,” he claimed aggressively and Stiles crossed his arms over his chest.

But Derek snorted in disbelief. Even in wolf-form his opinion came across.

Brian looked heatedly at him and Stiles decided enough was enough. “Alright. Just talk to him, don’t pick a fight with me.” He felt Derek hit his thigh with his wolfy shoulder and Stiles sighed. “I mean us.”

The beta looked between them and nodded once before walking into the house, leaving them alone out on the porch.

“What was that, Sourwolf? Was it really necessary to go full wolf? The guy’s just upset.”

The wolf huffed and sat down on the porch, clearly thinking that yes, it was. And no, the guy was stupid, that’s what he was.

“No, he’s not stupid. You know that. He needs to talk to his alpha. Well, his dad actually. Same thing in this case,” Stiles shook his head at the whole situation. It was a wonder no one had noticed what had happened. He looked around. “Communication, Derek. It’s a thing.” He walked over to the door and opened it. “Not that you would know what that is, but I’m telling you- the importance of communication cannot be emphasized enough.” He held the door open to let the wolf through.

Derek gave him one of his looks as he passed him and Stiles snorted. “Oh, come on. You know that everything is better when we talk about it. Then we end up not killed or maimed. Mostly.”

They climbed the stairs together, Derek needed some new clothes when he turned back. “When we communicate, the chances for misunderstandings drops below zero or somewhere around there.”

He looked at the skeptical wolf in front of him who’s ears twitched.

“Oh, don’t you dare say that it doesn’t,” Stiles said with certainty.

He heard someone chuckle behind him as he let Derek into the bedroom to change back and get into some clothes.

He turned around and noticed several people looking at him. “Um, hey,” he said, waving. Why was he waving again? It looked stupid. He put his hands in his pockets and rolled on his feet.

A woman named Amy smiled at him. “You talk to him while he’s a wolf?”

She was one of the betas from the Chandler-pack and Stiles adored her. She made the best coffee in the world by the way, no kidding.

“Yeah,” he frowned. “Why shouldn’t I? I mean, he’s the same, just a bit fluffier-“ he heard Derek growl on the other side of the door but he carried on as nothing had happened. “He has really expressive eyebrows.”

Amy laughed and shook her head. “Alright. It’s cute that you have such a close relationship.”

Another woman from the Lester-pack looked at the human in front of her. “But he’s a huge wolf. I mean, if he gets angry when you tease him like that-” she let the words die out but Stiles just grinned.

The door opened behind him and Derek stepped up next to him. The women disappeared pretty quickly but the other people just turned back to their conversations.

Stiles looked at Derek. “Dude, you scared them off with you glare and you eyebrows.”

Derek rolled his eyes and huffed. “Did not.”

“Communication, Derek. It’s still a thing.”

“I communicate plenty,” Derek claimed as they made their way down to the living room.

It was almost time for the last meeting before bedtime. They stopped before entering the living room. “Stop tempting fate,” Derek said dryly “I can’t believe you managed to survive this long.”

“I can’t believe you went between me and that beta,” Stiles countered. “It was just a little misplaced anger on his part. We’re all good.”

“I mean it,” Derek said, flicking a finger against Stiles injured shoulder. “It’s bad enough how you almost drained yourself during the fight. You don’t need to end up wounded by a werewolf.”

“What? I did what was expected of me during the fight,” Stiles spluttered. This was a discussion they had been over a few times already. Even if Stiles started to get a hang on this spark-thing didn’t mean Derek could be like this. Of course it took a lot of energy. Magic was energy. Kind of. “And Brian was just frustrated.”

Derek raised a brow.

“Mostly,” Stiles admitted. He knew he’d gotten the Lester-beta pretty riled up by pointing out Brian’s insecurities and Stiles had been a tiny bit relieved when Derek had stopped him from getting beaten up. Not that he would ever admit that to Mr. My eyebrows-does-my-talking.

Stiles outright laughed at the wolf’s stubborn expression before walking over to where Lydia was sitting and found a spot next to her. “Hey Lyds.”

“Are you okay?”

“Why?” he asked with a smile.

“We heard,” she said before pursing her lips. “Well, they heard what happened with Brian. Al’s son.”

“Oh that. We worked it out,” Stiles said quietly but determent.

Lydia watched him for a while before settling back into her chair. “Alright.”

As the most of them gathered in the living room, Matthew came into the room looking drained. “Good, everyone’s here.” He went to stand next to Scott, who looked tired but determent. “As you all know, we have sent Cassandra to get some treatment,” Matthew started. “It’s not like we forgive and forget. She did attack us no matter which state she was in. But,” he said, holding up a hand. “She needs to get better before we can talk to her. It came to my attention that when someone is in the state that she was in, they need treatment. And she’s human. Even if she had magic before, she is still human. And we protect our kind, but we do not kill in cold blood. In this fight we had a lot of wounds and broken bones. But no deaths.” He paused and looked at the people in his living room. “Surprisingly no one was killed. At least none of ours. That’s not a common outcome after these fights with people who threaten us.” He put his hands behind his back and nodded slowly. “We will speak with this woman. But after she’s been treated and taken care of. Then we will take care of our business, giving her a chance to defend herself.”

“How? You’re letting her get better before you what? Kill her?” someone asked and Scott shook his head.

“No. No killing. But we need answers. When we’ll be able to question her, we don’t know. It all depends on how she takes her treatment. But we will question her. No one threatens my pack or my packs alliances. Don’t worry, we will get our answers.”

 _Good alpha_ , Stiles thought and noticed the proud look on Allison’s face. The rest of the pack’s faces as well, but Allison simply glowed.

 _Oh_ , Stiles thought. _Oh my God. I wonder if Scott knows_.

He glanced over to Derek, who looked at him and shook his head discreetly.

Okay then. The alpha doesn’t know yet.

He turned his attention back to Matthew, who was informing them about Kiera. “-and she’s still not talking but she seemed almost frantic when Cassandra left. We told her about the hospital and Kiera had an extreme reaction to it.” He paused again, seeming in deep thought.

Lyle stepped forward. “If I may?” he asked and Matthew nodded. “I think there is something Kiera is hiding. Something she was about to tell me, but then shut down.” He looked over to Jodi and Stiles. “We tried, all three of us. Plus our alpha’s of course, but none of us could make her talk again.”

Lydia raised a hand. “I could try.”

“You want to do that?” Scott asked with a smile.

“Of course. I might be a banshee, but I can manage talking to her.” She seemed so certain and Jackson preened beside her.

Stiles rolled his eyes at the man but smiled at Lydia. It was worth a shot.

“Tomorrow then,” Scott said, looking at Matthew who agreed.

“Goodnight, everyone. I want to thank you all who helped cleaning up after the fight yesterday. The werewolves we killed has been buried and the ones that were injured, Lyle and Jodi managed to help back to normal with the help of Deaton, the McCall-packs close friend. And thank you for the dinner today, to those who made that. We couldn’t have done any of this if we hadn’t worked so well together, even if three packs in one place can get a little crowded.” He smiled while the people chuckled at that in agreement. But overall it had worked out pretty okay.

Al came into the room, walking over to where the two other alphas stood. “I apologize for being late to the meeting. I have been busy with some pack-arrangements back home.”

“We have just informed them about todays’ events.” Matthew said with a nod.

“Good,” Al said as the people excused themselves and left either for the kitchen or to get some sleep.

Scott disappeared upstairs with Allison while Erica and Isaac pulled out some cards and goaded Boyd and Jackson into playing. Al talked shortly with Matthew before the Chandler-alpha excused himself and left the room.

Stiles sat in a chair close to the fireplace and sipped his soda when Al came up to him. “I saw what happened between you and my beta earlier.” He stopped when Stiles gave him a curious, albeit nervous look. Al shook his head. “I may have a more military style than Matthew and Scott, or so I’ve been told, but I am not a brute. I try to lead my pack the only way I know how,” Al ran a hand over his chin before continuing. Showing himself like this, a bit vulnerable, wasn’t normal standard Stiles gathered but let Al speak. “I’ve raised my kids by myself. With help from the pack, of course. Their mother died when they were young. Sara, who I live with now, is not the mother of my children.”

“I didn’t know.” Stiles started to say something more but Al shook his head.

“I have had a talk with my son. I have raised him, but in the wrong way perhaps. I am a good alpha, but I have forgotten to talk with him. My two other kids, both daughters- I have good relationships with. But him- he’s going to be the next alpha and he needs to be prepared for the role. But I forgot I’m not just his alpha, I am also his father. So in a way; thank you for opening my eyes.” Al looked at Stiles with hard eyes before leaning closer. “He might have deserved it, but never touch my son again.” He straightened up and left the room without even acknowledging the others in the room.

Stiles turned to watch him leave and noticed how quiet the room had become. It was only people from his pack sitting across the room and Stiles collapsed into the chair. “Wow.” He looked at his friends. “Was I just thanked but also threatened by an alpha?”

Derek unclenched his jaw, sitting on the edge of his seat. “It seems like it.”

“Only you, Stilinski.”

“Quit it, Jackson. I could see how nervous you were when Al bent to hover over Stiles,” Lydia quipped and Jackson grumbled but didn’t comment further.

Boyd looked at Stiles. “You alright?”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what to think. Hooray for them working their shit out, but remind me never to talk with Brian again?” He shook his head. “When is this day going to end?”

Isaac got up. “Now. I’m so tired I feel drunk, and I have never even been drunk.”

Boyd snorted but got up as well. “We should get some sleep,” he looked at Derek. “Goodnight.”

When Stiles and Derek were the only ones left, Stiles went over to the wolf and let his fingers glide over the hair on Derek’s nape. Derek leaned into the touch and Stiles relaxed. They had kissed, sure. But so much had happened since then so he wasn’t quite sure if he was allowed to touch. Or what to do really. But this was all right apparently.

“Dude, are you purring?” Stiles said when a low sound vibrated through Derek. “You totally were. Don’t stop making that noise.”

“Don’t call me dude.”

Stiles snorted. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insecure smile* I know, I know- not that much happened. But I felt like I needed to explain the differences in the packs a bit more. And how the other packs see Stiles. Stiles and Derek's relationship also needed some attention so.. I really struggled with this chapter to be honest. And I'm still a long way from satisfied with it, but no matter how I wrote it.. well, let's just say this was the best alternative. I promise the next chapter will be better. *fingers crossed*


	10. Chapter 10

“She’s not talking,” Lydia said as she breezed into the kitchen. “At least not to me.” She put her hand on her hips, looking a little put out.

“Did she talk at all?” Jimmy asked as he stirred the sauce that was puttering on the stove. “When Matthew tried, she just stared at him. It was a little creepy actually.” He looked at Scott, who was leaning against the wall with a pondering look.

Scott straightened up and looked at Stiles. “There’s something off about this. I mean; she was talking a few days ago. Lyle said she stopped talking, in the middle of a sentence and everything. What did Jodi say?”

Stiles pursed his lips and shrugged. “Kiera had answered her, but not about the things that we’d like some answers to.” He got up. “I’ll try one more time.”

Al entered the kitchen just then and everyone bowed their head in respect. Except for Scott, they were like co-alphas or some shit. Stiles just nodded at him, he was human and had already a healthy amount of respect for the elder alpha.

“There is no point in talking to her. She won’t talk now,” Al claimed but Stiles looked to Scott for support.

“Try it. But I have to say I’m inclined to agree with Al, this is getting us nowhere.”

Stiles stepped out onto the porch and took a deep breath of air before crossing the lawn over to the shed. It was worth a try. Something was nagging in the back of his head, but he couldn’t grasp it and it had him agitated.

Derek came out of the bushes and trotted towards him. Yes, he was in wolf-form and yes, he had dirt and grass all over him. Somehow he had gotten more comfortable being in his wolf-form in front of the other packs. _Good for him_ , Stiles thought.

Derek was a magnificent wolf. Soft, black fur over hard, unyielding muscles and with intelligent eyes that saw everything. Pretty terrifying really- every movement showed just how powerful and vicious he could be when needed, but Stiles thought he was beautiful like this. Also; he purred when Stiles scratched him behind his ear.

“Where have you been?” Stiles asked as he watched Derek come to a halt beside him.

Derek just tilted his head and nudged Stiles hand.

“Out running, huh? Anything new?” Stiles asked as he let his hand slide through thick fur.

Derek shook his head before sneezing.

“Okay. But talk to you later?” Derek licked his hand and Stiles grimaced. “Ew.”

If wolves could smirk, Derek just did. Then he looked towards the shed, then at Stiles with questioning eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll try talking with her again. Not that I have much hope, but you’ll never know, right.” He opened the door and felt Derek follow him. “At least brush the dirt off before you come inside, dude.” He got a shove and a nip on his calves as an answer.

-

Stiles leaned back in his chair while he twirled the pen he was holding. Concentrated, he tried making it spin at least eight times before it stopped. He held the pen between his forefinger and thumb. Pretty interesting actua-

“What are you doing?”

Stiles looked up from the pen that was still twirling between his fingers. “What?”

Kiera looked at him with dark eyes. “Are you just going to sit here and play with that pen?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to answer. “Well, aren’t you going to interrogate me?”

Stiles raised his brows. She was talking again. He kept himself calm. “Do you _want_ me to interrogate you?”

She huffed and looked away from him.

Stiles kept twirling the pen and had almost managed to figure out how much speed that was needed to make it spin nine times before the pen was slapped out of his hand. “Hey! I was using that,” he exclaimed.

Kiera sat back with a satisfied smirk. “Not anymore.”

“Obviously,” he said, looking over to where the pen was thrown. Kiera’s magic had been momentarily bound, so she wasn’t a threat to them while she was here. But she could still slap pretty hard.

“So,” he folded his hands on the table and looked at her. “We’ve decided we don’t like that pen. We’ve also figured out that you’ll never answer our questions. But because of no answers, we can’t let you go. Werewolves get a little growly when someone attacks them.” He shrugged. “Not that I can blame them. I didn’t like it all that much either. Especially because you tried killing my friends.”

“I didn’t try killing them,” Kiera protested. “I hexed them.”

Stiles looked at her with a frown. “Nah, I don’t buy it.”

“Alright, maybe not hexed but,” she sat back in her chair, clearly tired. She had been in here for days with a minimum of food and fresh air. “I tried to steal their powers. But I never meant for them to go catatonic!”

“But yet, they did.”

“I didn’t know that!”

Stiles sighed. This was getting them nowhere. “What does Cassandra have on you?”

“Nothing.”

Well, that was quick. “I don’t believe you,” he said while shaking his head. “I know she made you help her. You are a white witch.” He shrugged. “A good one. Or at least you were. How does that work anyway? Once you go black, you won’t or can’t go back?”

She leveled him with a look that said just how done she was with his shit and he figured out it was time to get serious.

He leaned forward, looking at her with curious eyes. She had reacted when he had talked about Cassandra. “So, this Cassandra. She’s not feeling all that well. But she was pretty coherent when she managed to convince you to work with her. You probably started your collaboration at least a few months back. She has probably gone deeper and deeper into her illness since then. But what do you have against werewolves?”

Kiera made a grimace but it was gone before Stiles could decipher it. “Nothing.”

“But yet you chose to work with her?”

The young witch dismissed his words, looking at him.

Stiles tried something different. “You didn’t choose to work with her. No, she made you.”

And there was the grimace again.

“I was right!” he said with a grin. “So, what is it exactly that she has on you? Did you do something illegal and she caught you doing it? You stole something. Killed someone? Nah, what about stole something from her? Or maybe she found out you cheated on your boyfriend?” He paused.

She didn’t react to any of those except to sneer at his stupidity.

“Not boyfriend then. Alright, how about you tell me then? Because from the looks of it, we’ll be here all night. I can sit here and keep guessing. I’m good at talking as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” He grinned at her rolling eyes. “I’ve been told I can be a real pain in the ass but hey; I get the work done. And to be honest; I know I’m a pain in the ass. I can be a real asshole actually, but the end justifies the means and all that.”

She sighed. “I don’t think that’s the correct use of that expression.”

“Yeah, well, you get what I mean.” He let his smile slide of his face and looked right at her. “You didn’t do anything that could be used against you, did you? You got forced into helping her. Why?” He watched as a myriad of emotions flickered across her face before she closed off. It was just a few seconds, but he knew he was onto something. “Do you have a boyfriend, Kiera?”

She looked at him with a disapproving glare. “What’s it to you?”

“Nothing. Family?”

“Everybody has someone.”

“Really?”

“Guess so.”

“U-hu.” Stiles blew air out his nose, frustrated. “And now we’re acting like twelve year olds. Come on. Help me help you. I mean; who is it that you’re covering for? It can’t be Cassandra, we’ve already dealt with her.”

“Or so you think.” Just as she said that, her face crumpled like she was in pain and Stiles got up and was next to her in a second.

“Hey, what happened? Are you alright?” he asked, but she just nodded. She looked a little pale he noticed.

Then he froze. What if she couldn’t talk? What if Cassandra had made sure she couldn’t tell them? He glanced at her only to see her regard him with hooded eyes. “I’m on to something, aren’t I?”

She didn’t answer, but kept looking at him intently.

“I am so onto something,” he breathed as he went back to his chair and blinked several times as he tried connecting the dots. “You tried talking to Lyle the other day, didn’t you? But he said you suddenly stopped talking. At all.”

She still didn’t give any indication that what he said had any meaning to her, but she kept looking at him and that had to mean something.

“But you couldn’t because you’re not allowed. You physically can’t tell us.” He got up and started pacing. “She did something. But she doesn’t have any powers. What did she do? How did she do it?” He nibbled on his lip, trying to work out how this could have happened. “She cursed you. Or forced someone to cast a spell on you. Maybe she forced you to cast a spell on yourself.” He stopped and considered the suggestions. “Can you show us?”

He looked at her and she just swallowed.

“That’s a no then. Can you write it? Draw it? Anything?”

She shook her head. “I was forced to cast it myself,” she managed to say before almost falling over in pain.

He ran over and barely stopped her from tipping over in her chair.

“Okay. Okay, don’t try to tell me, alright?” He gripped her arm and squeezed. “I’ll figure it out.”

Tears gathered in her eyes and he knew he had to help her. He had to tell Derek. And Scott. And Lyle. And Jodi. Hell, all of them. “I’ll inform the others, we’ll make a plan to help you.”

She drew a deep breath. “I’m not telling you what to do.” Her voice was petulant but she looked at him with huge eyes. Only then could Stiles see the helplessness deep in her eyes.

“Okay. Alright. I’ll be right back.” He opened the door and looked back at her. “Promise.”

-

“So what you’re saying is that she was forced into this?” Scott asked after Stiles had gathered all of them outside the shed.

“Compelled, forced. Something like that, yes.” He rolled his shoulders, trying to calm his jittery nerves. But if Kiera had been under this spell this whole time, it had to be lifted.

“Then we have to help her,” Lyle said as he stepped closer to Stiles.

“Are you sure she is telling the truth?”

Stiles looked at the two werewolves that had been standing outside Kiera’s room. “Did you listen in?”

The two of them looked at their alpha Matthew, before nodding. “And?”

“She didn’t seem to be lying, but then again; if she’s under a spell..” one of them said and Stiles clenched his fists trying not to start a discussion.

“She might have been dodging the truth, but her reactions can’t be forced. When she tried to tell me something, she had to stop from the pain. All I got was that she was forced to cast the spell herself. My gut tells me that Cassandra has something she uses against Kiera, to make her collaborate with her. Something big.”

Lyle looked at Jodi. “She stopped talking to me the other day, but before that, she answered one of my questions before suddenly breaking of in the middle of a sentence. She almost passed out.”

Lydia caught Stiles eyes and held his stare. “I think you are on to something. I’ll help you.”

Scott nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“Me too.” Derek came up next to Lydia.

“I’ll call Deaton, see if he has any information about these kind of stuff.” Erica pulled out her phone.

Then everything became chaos until the alpha’s got their packs into groups about where to look for books, where to call and who to talk to. Derek came up to Stiles and gave him a soft, private smile. “Good work. Come with me, let’s get something to eat.”

“But we have to-“ Stiles protested but was dragged over the lawn and into the kitchen.

“Food first, then research,” Derek said, opening the fridge. “We’ve got salad, steak, sandwiches and chicken.”

“Only if Kiera gets some of that,” Stiles said, nodding towards the chicken salad. “She hasn’t been eating enough. And now that we’ve discovered that she’s more or less like a prisoner by Cassandra and us, maybe the big bosses will let her have a more varied diet?”

Derek hid his grin but nodded. “Sure. Eat.”

“Big boss bossing me around.”

Derek smacked him over the back of his head and Stiles rubbed a hand over his head. “Hey. Don’t hit the brain in this operation.” He grinned. “I’m the brain and you’re the muscle. You know this, Der.”

A lifted brow was all he got in return, but Stiles was satisfied.

-


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles shuddered in the cold air as they were gathered outside to do the ritual. Or spell-lifting.

Finding the right spell to undo the one Kiera had been forced to cast on herself, hadn’t been too difficult. Lyle had quite the collections of books and knowledge, and combined with Jody, Lydia and Stiles they had the counter-spell up and running in no time.

More like two days, but hey they found it, and that was the most important part.

Kiera, who had become more like a guest and less like a prisoner, was standing in the center surrounded by Jody, Stiles and Lyle.

She was still living in the same room in the shed, but she could walk freely on the property. Stiles had managed to convince Matthew that she was no threat because of her bound powers and that the risk of her fleeing was low. But Al and frankly a lot of the betas, were less convinced of her claims to be a victim so she was guarded at all hours. But it had been the best compromise. She still didn’t talk much but she had managed to get her worries across. What if it didn’t work? What if Cassandra had yet another trick up her sleeve? Frankly, Stiles thought Kiera seemed terrified. But why? They had figured out how to help her, right?

“So we begin,” Jody said, holding out her hands for the others to take. The three of them held hands, making a small circle around Kiera, who kept shaking. But not from how cold it was. This stemmed from fear. Stiles caught her eyes and gave her what he hoped was a calm smile. “It will be okay.”

The witch just clasped her hands together, hunching her shoulders as she nodded. Lyle had Kia standing behind him to help him.

Jody had Holly behind her, for help.

And Stiles had Lydia, who stood a few steps behind him.

The three helpers had a bowl each, with different ingredients to be used to lift the spell. Lyle started speaking and Stiles could feel his spark run through his veins.

“The words Kiera gave for safekeeping the secrets, will now be released- We ask you. The value of her magic is not meant to be bound or used for wrongdoings- We ask you. Lift this spell from the original caster and help her serve the good- We ask you.”

Lyle nodded to Kia, who tipped the bowl she was holding, making a line of black salt behind Lyle.

Stiles focused on his footing and closed his eyes. “Release the hold over Kiera Yandveno, help her to be free- We plead you. Help the negative energy, sent by others, to bypass and vanish- We plead you.” He opened his eyes and looked at Kiera.

To him she was vibrating with blue light around her, but he didn’t think anyone else but the four of them in the middle could see it.

He nodded to Lydia, who tipped the bowl she had in her hands, making another line behind him.

“We burn this curse that was cast, we defend what is good. Help her be free- We plead you.” During Jody’s part, Stiles felt something pop, then retract like a rubber-band that had snapped and Kiera fell to her knees in front of them. Jody continued her words, unwavering. “-and with this we thank you for helping this girl. May she only serve the good and be back on her path. We thank you.”

Holly tipped the third and final bowl behind Jody, making the last line and the three of them stepped back behind the lines, leaving Kiera on her knees inside what now had become a triangle.

“Take this as purification for the deed you were forced to do,” Jody said, pouring a blend of hyssop, rue, salt and different herbs over Kiera, who was now covered in shimmering blue and white light.

They all held their breaths. It was done.

Stiles rolled his shoulders discreetly, feeling the energy settle. Kiera was still on her knees, but the blue and white light was gone. The witch lifted her head towards the sky and raised her hands. “Thank you.” It was said in a whisper, but the intensity in those two words could not be overlooked. Stiles knew all of the werewolves had heard her and he looked over to Scott, who slowly made his way towards Kiera.

“How are you feeling?” Scott asked gently, bending down to help the witch up.

Stiles could see the anguish in the girls eyes and he rushed over. “Is something wrong? Are you in pain?” he asked, helping Scott lift her off her knees.

“Please,” she whispered. “Troye – you have to help him. Please, he’s-“ And then she went limp in their arms.

Stiles and Scott looked at each other. Who was Troye? Lyle came up to them. “What did she say?”

Scott looked at Matthew and Al, who was standing close to them. “She mentioned a Troye. We need to find out who he is.”

Al growled. “We need to wake her up then. We can’t find someone who we know nothing about.”

Stiles looked over to Derek, who came up to them and lifted Kiera into his arms.

“Take her upstairs. She needs to rest,” Stiles said quietly.

Erica and Linda stepped forward. “We’ll help her into bed.”

When Derek and Kiera was out of sight, Stiles turned to the three alphas and the two emissaries. “I need to borrow a computer.”

-

Stiles huffed in frustration, hitting the buttons on the computer with jerky movements. If he could just find more information about Kiera, there was a chance he would find this Troye as well. He hoped.

Jackson came into the library and sat a cup of warm chocolate on the table next to the computer. “Derek insisted you needed something to drink.”

Stiles leaned back in his chair and looked up at his petulant looking friend. “So you brought me hot chocolate?” He grinned wide. “I didn’t know you cared so much, Jacks.” Jackson tried so hard to hide his feelings, so Stiles couldn’t help but to irk him a little.

Jackson blew air out through his nose as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I can pour it out if you don’t want it.”

Stiles let his grin slide into a sincere smile. “Thank you.”

The werewolf turned to leave but stopped to look back at Stiles over his shoulder. “Don’t mention it. Ever.”

Stiles grinned into his cup and took a sip. It was glorious. Even if Jackson had made it.

Just as he finished drinking it, Scott came into the room and sat down.

“How is she?” Stiles asked. Kiera had been sleeping for three hours now, and while Lyle had assured them that she would be alright, it was still a weird atmosphere in the house.

“Still sleeping,” Scott answered as he rested his head on his hands, almost lying over the table.

“You should get some sleep,” Stiles said as he scrolled on the laptop. “She’ll probably be out for a while. And you know that Jody and Erica will wake us if Kiera resurface into the land of the living again.”

“I know,” was the answer from a very tired-sounding Scott.

“Here you are,” Kia said as she entered the room and Scott straightened up. “We’re all going to bed. Erica and Boyd will take the first shift then Dean and Alfie will do the second one.” She focused on Stiles and cocked her head towards the laptop. “Found anything?”

Stiles sighed. “No. Nothing much other than her address and phone number. She doesn’t have a Facebook-account or Twitter. Not even Instagram.”

“You’ll find something. But I also think you need some rest. There is a very restless werewolf out in the living room, looking like he wants to go in here every five minutes.” She chuckled. “It’s good to see how well you all take care of each other. But he’s stubborn in showing it though.”

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek, not to smile like a loon. Derek was protective of his pack and their members, but he also let them do what needed to be done, even if he didn’t want them to be hurt. Or tired, in this case.

Scott looked at Stiles with something akin to horror. Stiles grimaced. “What?”

Kia left with a ‘goodnight’ and Scott stared at Stiles, looking like he was about to give him a speech.

“What?” Stiles repeated as he looked at his friends.

“I don’t know whether I should encourage whatever it is that is happening between you two, or warn you off him.” Scott grimaced. “Or threaten you not to hurt him.”

Stiles burst out laughing. Scott usually got conflicted whenever Derek came up in a discussion that was not entirely concentrated around pack-business, it was like he couldn’t decide how he really felt about his second in command. They were friends, but there had happened a lot of things before it came to a friendship. And although they had cleared things up and made amends, Scott still had a troubled frown whenever anyone talked about Derek. Especially if Stiles talked about Derek. Something Scott claimed happened quite a lot. The alpha was now wearing an extremely confused expression and that made Stiles laugh even more.

“Stop laughing, idiot,” Scott grumbled but couldn’t keep his grin from breaking out. “You know I’m not against you liking someone. But it’s Derek.” He paused. “Then again it’s Derek and you and that’s just-“ He punched Stiles shoulder. “Stop laughing!”

“Alright, alright. But your face-“ Stiles bit his lip to stop his laughter, but it couldn’t be helped. “Dude, relax. Nothing is going on.”

“What?” Scott gaped. “Really? I thought I was just imagining things but then Isaac-“

“Isaac? Why does Isaac-“ He groaned. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes, in your opinion according to Isaac.” Scott looked torn between a teasing grin and a grimace. “I don’t want to know anything, but dude, just- Be careful. And I mean both of you. I don’t want any of you to end up getting hurt.”

“This is where I’m going to stop you and we will never have this conversation again,” Stiles hastily said as he got up. “We haven’t even talked about it. I don’t even know if there is anything to talk about.” Well, maybe he did. He really did, but it was just theirs for the moment. It was too fragile to discuss with anyone else. Even Scott.

“Alright.” Scott got up at clapped Stiles on his back. “Just-“

“Goodnight, Scott.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to give advice on something I don’t know how to give advice on.”

“I don’t need advice. But if I do, you’ll be the first one I ask, man.”

Scott grinned. “I’ll go find Allison, we’re going to get some rest. She has seemed a little tired lately.”

“Me too. Get some rest I mean. Take care of Allison, alright?”

“What? Why?” Scott looked confused again and Stiles shook his head fondly.

“Just talk to her.” He wandered into the living room and found Derek standing in front of the fireplace looking into the flames. “Hey.” Stiles came up next to Derek, who looked away from the fire.

“Did you find anything?” he asked. He looked a little lost in thought, and it reminded Stiles of the Derek he had met when he was sixteen. This was Derek’s haunted look and Stiles didn’t like it. He also knew that Derek hated open fire. Even in a fireplace. Understandable.

“No.” He raised his brows and tilted his neck. “You should get some sleep, Derek.”

“So should you.”

Stiles huffed out a laugh. “Well, then.”

The house was quiet except for some voices from the kitchen and sound from the water pipes, telling them that someone was taking a shower somewhere in the large house. After brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, Stiles got into bed and breathed out.

Derek was showering now and Stiles took a moment to let today's happenings sink in. Lifting the spell had worked wonderfully, and although he had used his spark or whatever, he didn’t feel completely drained. It was a nice feeling.

“You okay?” Isaac whispered from across the room and Stiles turned his head.

“Yeah. Just tired. Long day. You?”

He heard more than saw Isaac roll onto his side. “Just tired I guess. So the lifting of the spell worked. She’s no longer cursed?”

Stiles nodded in the dark. “Yeah. At least it felt like that.”

Isaac breathed out. “Cool.”

They laid in silence for a while until Derek came into the room and got into bed.

“Stiles?”

“Yes, Isaac.”

“Remind me not to piss you off. I saw what you did back when we were fighting Cassandra and Kiera. And- I get why you didn’t tell us what you can do, but I’m also glad that we know about it.”

“I didn’t try to lie to you. I just wanted to make sure I knew how to use whatever this is. I didn’t mean to hold anything back, Isaac,” Stiles said in something that he hoped was a gentle voice. Isaac had always been more sensitive like that. He hated lying and he needed to feel safe in his pack. He didn’t trust easily, just like a lot of the others. Stiles knew it stemmed from the time Isaac had lived with his abusive father. Stiles understood that, but he also hoped Isaac could understand why Stiles had kept his powers to himself for a while. “It wasn’t like I didn’t want to tell you. I just-“

“Needed some time. We understand,” Derek said quietly.

Stiles heard Isaac swallow. “I think I understand. Just- Don’t lie to us again?”

“Promise.” Stiles turned his head towards where Isaac was lying. “As long as you don’t gossip about me to Scott.”

“Stop making out in the same room as me then,” was the dry answer he got from Isaac and he could feel Derek laugh silently.

“It’s not funny, dude,” he said to Derek and punched his shoulder. He could hear Isaac snort.

“It’s a little funny.”

“Shut up,” he said to both of them but there was no heat behind his words so the two werewolves guaff-ed. “It’s like we’re ten year olds in camp,” Stiles complained.

“Ten year olds do not do the things you two did,” Isaac quipped.

Then Stiles burst out in a mortified laugh while Derek grumbled. They might have been in the middle of some pretty serious business with other packs and witches, but when had the McCall-pack ever had normal days? They had to have some humor.

Derek pulled Stiles closer and Stiles settled against a broad chest. They still needed to talk, but Stiles didn’t complain. He kind of liked things just as they were at the moment. If only they could figure out whom this Troye-person was. Hopefully Kiera would be awake tomorrow.

-


	12. Chapter 12

There was a knock on their bedroom door and Isaac was out of bed before Stiles could even sit up.

“Sorry to wake you,” Jimmy said. “But Kiera just woke up. You should come.”

Isaac closed the door and looked over to Derek, who was pulling his clothes on. Isaac followed suit and Stiles found the jeans and hoodie he had thrown next to his bed, pulling them on. No one said anything; they just exchanged looks before silently making their way to the room where Kiera was.

Derek knocked and they were shown into the bedroom. Kiera was sitting up in bed, eyes wide and with her hair in disarray.

When she saw Stiles, she blinked rapidly. “Have you found him?”

Stiles looked at Scott and Matthew, who were both standing next to her bed. They both looked at him, giving nothing away so he cleared his throat and shook his head.

“We don’t know who he is. All you said was a name.” He walked closer to Kiera, who now had started shaking.

“Troye,” she whispered. “Troye is my brother. He- Oh my god. You need to find him. She has him locked up somewhere.”

“Who? Cassandra?” Stiles looked at Scott, who nodded.

Scott glanced at Kiera before answering Stiles. “She says Troye was taken by Cassandra and when she and Kiera left to fight us, she made some of the cursed werewolves stay back with him.” Scott’s face was set in a grim expression and Stiles knew this was bad news.

This would mean they not only had to find him, but also fight the brainwashed werewolves. Stiles looked back at Kiera, who looked close to having a panic attack. “Do you know where he’s been held?” he asked quietly.

Lyle came into the room, but kept quiet as Kiera spoke.

The girl shuddered. “I don’t- I mean, I’m not sure. She let me see him before we came here, but I was under the spell so I couldn’t really think straight.”

“But you seemed just fine before we lifted it?” Stiles asked. “I mean, apart from the not talking freely part.”

She shook her head. “I felt alright, most of the time. But we were arguing while we were on our way to see him.” She gestured weakly. “I wanted her to release him, promising I would help her anyway. But she wouldn’t listen and the pain made me dizzy, so when we got there I wasn’t feeling too well.”

“Pain?” Isaac tilted his head while looking intently at the girl.

Kiera nodded. “Every time I tried voicing my thoughts, talking about the spell she had me under, I felt a stabbing pain in my stomach, like knives piercing into my body.”

Isaac swallowed. “How long were you under that spell?”

Stiles knew Isaac hated listening to this. He knew how it felt to be abused, not being able to talk or act freely.

Kiera were gripping the sheets so hard it made her knuckles white. “Two months.”

“So that means he’s been held somewhere for two months as well?”

The girl just nodded as her chin wobbled.

Matthew stepped forward and looked at the people standing in the room. “We should talk in the library.” He looked at Kiera with gentle eyes. “Try to eat something first, Kia and Greg will keep you company.”

-

When the night turned to morning, Stiles, Lyle, Jody and now Kiera were gathered around a map, holding hands.

Stiles, for one, felt a bit stupid standing like this. He wasn’t a witch and the things he did, he did because it felt right. This just felt weird. But he was trying.

Kiera opened her eyes and looked down at the map. “I think I got it.” She put a finger on the left side of the map, not far from where she claimed to live. “He’s there.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “He’s been held two streets from my apartment the whole time. And I didn’t know.”

Lyle shushed her quietly, cradling her in his arms. He was the only one who had been assertive about giving Kiera’s powers back, even if she had been the one attacking them a few days ago.

The rest of them had mixed feelings about how to treat her, but they had all agreed to help her find her brother.

Stiles was a little less convinced if Kiera should have gotten her powers back so soon, but he didn’t think she was going to hurt them either. He knew she had been a victim of Cassandra’s actions, he just didn’t trust that easily. Even if he felt sorry for her, he liked being precautious. With everything he had come across these last years, he’d become a little wary in these situations. Also, sheriff’s son. His dad had taught him well.

“Did you find anything?” Derek asked, glancing over Stiles shoulder to look at the map. He crossed his arms and looked at them. “Alright, I’ll tell the others.”

-

Finding the place where Troye was held wasn’t difficult. But the timing was worse. The sun was still peeking through the skies and people were still awake in the city. They had located the house, but in said house were four apartments. With unsuspecting humans living in three of them. The fourth apartment was down in the basement and that’s were Troye was imprisoned.

Some of the humans from the Chandler-pack had gone inside the building earlier that day and had noticed how the door to the fourth apartment was guarded by one of the brainwashed werewolves. Erica had pointed out how weird it must look like to the others living in the building, and Stiles couldn’t agree more. How had they managed to explain that to the humans living there?

Scott had put Erica, Isaac and Stiles to keep watch on the backside of the building, along with Tooth, Holly, Brian and Fiona. And while Jimmy, Dean and Greg were across the street opposite the main entrance, the rest was circling the building.

Lydia and Jackson was with Allison and her arrows somewhere in the third floor in one of the, convenient enough, hotels nearby.

Stiles knew that the Lester-pack had voiced their disapproval about helping someone who had tried killing them all, but Matthew and Scott had managed to talk Al into helping. Kiera might have been doing Cassandra’s bidding, but Troye was innocent in all of this. Besides, Stiles secretly thought it had something with the choice words Jody had served Al when they thought no one was around, but he didn’t say it out loud. Jody was a force to be reckoned and she had refused to leave before helping and knowing that they had stayed until the end of this. She had also pointed out to her very grumpy alpha that if they worked together with the two other packs, it would strengthen their alliances. And with Brian as the new alpha, in time, it could come in handy. Stiles looked at Jody with more respect and admiration now than ever, he had never thought Al would bend to his emissary’s will.

But he had, and now almost forty werewolves and humans were surrounding the building.

Stiles couldn’t see it, but he heard when the first people entered the apartment. It was a lot of fighting and Stiles hoped Lyle and Jody would get the silence-spell up and working before someone heard the uproar.

Glass shattered and someone came crawling out of one of the basement windows. Green eyes glowed in the dusk, looking wildly around.

_Werewolf_ , Stiles thought. One of the brainwashed ones. They all had glowing green eyes, not yellow. That’s how they knew they were still under the spell cast by Kiera.

Stiles watched as Tooth tackled the guy to the ground, got in a few punches before getting thrown off. Stiles was about to go in with his bat when Erica leaped towards the green-eyed werewolf and quickly knocked him out.

He grinned. Catwoman ruled.

Stiles heard Holly shout to his left and saw Kiera stepping out from the bushes, mumbling quietly as she held her palms turned towards the building. Stiles could see the fear and anguish embedded into her face, but she kept working to lift the spell from the brainwashed werewolves. Or at least that’s what he thought she was doing.

Holly stood next to her, not knowing if she was to let Kiera keep doing whatever it is that she was doing, or stop her- as she had tried to do in the first place. And if she was trying to lift the spell, why hadn’t they started with that? Then all of this could have gone down pretty differently, without the fighting. Kiera had gotten her magic unbound after pretty heavy threats about death from the werewolves, should she use her magic against them. But she had been more than thankful that she’d get help to get her brother back, so Stiles hoped they didn’t need to worry about her magic. Yet.

“She’s up to something,” Tooth growled, passing Stiles in a hurry.

Stiles ran after him and grabbed the man’s sleeve. “No, she’s lifting the spell on them.” He motioned to the werewolf lying on the lawn, still knocked out but he was-

“Is he glowing?” Tooth asked, still a little suspicious.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

The light shimmered before parting into tiny particles that disappeared into thin air.

Kiera breathed out before blinking a couple of times. “It’s lifted. I can’t believe I managed to lift it.” She looked at Stiles. “You really helped me lift the curse on me.”

“You didn’t think we did?”

“I hoped. It felt alright when I woke up. But Cassandra always had a lot of back-up plans, so I wasn’t sure. Until now.” She looked towards the building, where everything had gone quiet. “Troye,” she whispered before running around the corner to the main entrance.

“You have to wait until it’s clear.” Stiles hurried after her with the others right behind him.

They ran down the stairs, Kiera’s anguished calls for her brother breaking the tense atmosphere that apparently was in the apartment.

Stiles screeched to a halt. “Derek?”

The man was standing in the living room with Scott, Matthew and Al, while a group of betas stood in the background. It looked like they had been in a hell of a fight, the inventory had been reduced to pieces and there were people lying on the floor, while the rest of them looked a little winded.

The apartment was small, only one bedroom- where Stiles assumed Troye was in.

“Stiles.” Derek looked at him with something akin to relief.

Stiles lifted a brow. This situation was the least dangerous one they had been in for years. “What?”

At the same time Scott tried stopping Kiera from seeing whatever it was inside the bedroom. “No. Don’t.” He caught her around the waist and hauled her away from the open door. “Don’t go in there.”

“No! Let me go. No, let me see him. I have to see him!”

She fought to get lose from the hold around her waist, too distraught to even think about using magic to get lose. “Why? What’s wrong?” she cried. “Tell me.”

Stiles walked up to the others, asking the same with his eyes. Matthew ran a hand over his face, wiping away sweat while the frown remained. “He’s in a pretty bad shape.”

Al snorted. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“But is he alive?” Stiles prompted. “Is he?”

They heard growling from the other room. Weak, but defensive.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest, looking over at Kiera. “He is alive. Barely.”

Stiles felt irritation swell up and he gestured impatiently. “Barely? Goddammit, does it look like we’ve got all night? If he’s alive, we need to get him to a hospital!”

“They bit him, alright- He turned, but it looks like he hasn’t been eating for at least three weeks.” Derek bit the words out, like they tasted sour. “He’s been tortured and injected with wolfsbane. Often, by the looks of it.”

“Three weeks? Tortured?” Stiles glanced towards the bedroom. “And he’s still alive?”

He could hear Kiera whimper as Scott talked quietly to her. When he stopped talking, Kiera’s face crumbled before the most agonizing sound came out of her. It didn’t even sound human, but the sorrow on her face described exactly how she sounded. Knowing your brother had gotten turned was one thing, but to also hear that he’d been tortured for weeks, maybe months-

Stiles swallowed. Hard. Stiles looked at the body of one of the cursed werewolves. Not everyone had survived this evening. The two other foreign werewolves were knocked out, but still breathing. “So now what do we do?” he asked.

“Jody and Lyle are working on him, trying to drag the poison out of him.” Matthew glanced towards Kiera. “But he’s resisting their help. He’s delirious.”

“He’s gone insane,” Al butted in. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but if he doesn’t get better, he shouldn’t- A feral werewolf is not tolerated.”

“Woah! Feral? He needs help,” Scott claimed from where he was still holding a trembling Kiera.

“We will try.” Stiles knew this had been too easy.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, this chapter.. so many people- too many.. but.. I tried?


	13. Chapter 13

After getting Troye out of the torture-cave, that Stiles had named it in his head, they had figured out it would be quicker transporting him to Beacon Hills than back to the Chandler-house. Even if they had been forced to sedate him, he was too broken down and mistreated that they were afraid he wouldn’t survive the move. Stiles had already called Deaton, and he would meet them at the clinic.

The three werewolves they had fought were restrained in one of the Chandler-packs vans. The fourth one, who died in the fight, would be taken care of and buried by the Lester-pack.

Scott, Derek, Isaac and Stiles were driving one car, while people from the Chandler-pack were riding in two other cars. One of the cars also had a slightly hysteric Kiera and a sleeping Troye in it. The other had the three brainwashed werewolves in it.

The Lester-pack hadn’t followed, they chose to leave after having helped getting the boy out of his prison. Jody had disagreed on the matter, but had to follow her alpha. She may be little, but she is fierce. The sentence described her pretty spot on, Stiles thought. Shakespeare for the win.

Al had sent two of his betas, Holly and Clark, with them though. And even if both Matthew and Scott had claimed they didn’t need to come with, the third alpha had said it was the least they could do, even if the rest of the pack chose not to come. So here they were, some of them on their way back to Beacon Hills. Most of the people from both the Chandler-pack and McCall-pack had been sent back to Chandler territory to pick up their stuff before returning home.

The ride was spent mostly in silence.

Tense silence.

Stiles was in the back next to Isaac, while Derek drove and Scott was in the passenger seat. Scott’s phone beeped and he quickly put it down again. “He’s still sleeping. But his heart has slowed down a bit.”

Stiles looked between Derek and Scott. “That’s not a good sign, right? I mean, I’m no paramedic or werewolf, but the heartrate shouldn’t go down.” None of the others answered and Stiles swallowed. “Shit. I don’t even know the guy, but I don’t want him to die.” He leaned back in his seat, looking blindly out the window. “This is so messed up,” he said before looking back to the people in the front seat. “Can you imagine being forced to help someone because they kidnapped your brother and also being under a spell you were forced to put on yourself. Then, when you think the nightmare is about to end, then- surprise, surprise- you find that your very human brother is no longer human but turned against his will. And tortured. And there was no way you could have stopped it.” He heaved for breath and shook his head. “God.”

Scott looked over his shoulder at him before turning back to look on the road. “Yeah.”

Isaac didn’t say anything, but even Stiles could sense the unease coming from him. Somehow, somewhere along this fucked up situation, he had become more and more taken with Kiera. Stiles thought it was sweet, but he also felt a little worried. He didn’t trust Kiera. Not a hundred percent, even if she hadn’t said or done anything that could seem deceitful. (If you chose to ignore the fighting-them-because-forced-to that is.)

Twenty minutes later, Derek parked outside Deaton’s veterinarian clinic. The two other cars parked beside them and Jimmy closed the door on his car before opening the door to the trunk and looked at them. “This is where you take injured werewolves?” He looked at the sign above the door. “To the vet?” He grabbed the blanket that Troye was on and got Stiles, Matthew and Derek to help him.

Stiles took hold of one of the corners of the blanket that Troye was lying on. “I know. I have too many jokes about it.” He cast a glance at Jimmy as they lifted the boy out of the car. “But it’s the best place for supernatural creatures in conditions like this one.”

Jimmy shrugged. “Alright.”

Matthew looked at Jimmy just before they went inside, the injured wolf carried between them. “I’ve heard about Deaton from way back. He’s not just a vet.”

“There you are,” Deaton said just as the door closed behind them. The vet looked at the group as all of them came inside. “You make quite the crowd. Those of you who carry him can follow me.” He looked at Kiera, who was standing next to them, stroking her brother’s hair. “Someone should give his sister a cup of tea.” He looked at Isaac. “You know where to find it. Take care of her.”

Then he turned and the others followed into the backroom.

After Troye was moved onto the table, washed and examined and also prodded by Deaton, Scott helped the vet set up an IV. It had been touch and go there for a while, as Troye fought the poison in his body and Stiles had been holding his breath as Deaton and Scott worked on the newly turned boy.

Derek had rested his hand on Stiles back for a second and Stiles had felt himself relax into the touch until Scott had yelled for someone to help him hold the trashing wolf down.

They had all helped with something through the endless hours of saving Troye’s life and they were all feeling a bit worn out when Deaton finally stepped back from the now sleeping boy and turned around to look at them. “The mix of fluid I’ve set up is giving him what his body needs to recover, but I’ve also mixed in some herbs that will allow his body to heal. Given the amounts of wolfsbane still in his body, it will take some time but he’ll live.”

Kiera, who had been clinging to Isaac’s hand like a life-line, threw her arms around Deaton’s neck, sobbing into his chest. The usually stoic vet looked somewhat startled, but quickly recovered and soothed her as she cried in relief.

If it had been any other situation, Stiles might have laughed by Deaton’s face, but this was not the time.

When Kiera had let the vet go, he ushered them out of the room with orders to shower and get some rest. Scott would stay there, to help Deaton if something was to happen through the night. Kiera refused to leave, so Isaac stayed back as well.

Stiles was not surprised. What he was surprised by, was the meaningful look Scott sent Isaac- the look said to protect, but not to trust. Stiles hummed under his breath. Scott was totally growing into this alpha-ness.

-

Scott had ordered them all to go home, get some sleep, and then show up early at Deaton’s office the next morning. So now Stiles was back in his bedroom after a long day. Night. Whatever.

Stiles sighed as he put his hands behind his head, lying in his bed. His mind whirled and he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep in foreseeable future. Deaton had asked Scott and Matthew if they knew the name of the alpha that had bit Troye. All they knew was that the alpha that had bit the boy were one of the surviving werewolves they had brought to Beacon Hills. But he was still out of it and Scott had refused to let anyone do anything else than sleep.

Stiles turned his head to the window, looking at the curtain that moved with the light breeze coming through his window. He hoped Derek would show up. Something had changed between them while they had been dealing with this case, but Stiles didn’t really know anything else than that. They still hadn’t had time to talk about it. Other than some lingering touches and some really long glances Stiles totally could get used to, there hadn’t been time for the conversation they needed to have. Or deserved to have. This was serious, at least in Stiles opinion. Because this was Derek. Derek and him. And that- Stiles swallowed. That had been, up until now, been in the never-going-to-happen-column. So Stiles felt a bit nervous.

He huffed to himself. He could be nervous or downright scared to death while running from and/or fighting the monsters that goes bump in the night. But he was never nervous like this. This butterfly-I’m going to be sick-but not really-feeling.

He dragged a hand over his face. He was turning into mush. He was a grown-up. Well, almost. He did not get butterflies in his stomach.

He rolled over and planted his face into his pillow. “I refuse to think about it.”

-

Next day Stiles almost fell out of his Jeep in his haste to get into Deaton’s office.

Scott had called an hour ago, telling them that Troye had woken up and Kiera had tried talking to him. And that had not gone well. So Scott and Troye would get a ride with Stiles to Derek’s loft, where the rest were gathered. Isaac had brought Kiera with him when he left after Troye had woken up.

Stiles went into the backroom and Scott looked up from what he was doing. “Hey, man.”

“Hey. Where’s the new werewolf?” Stiles asked, looking around.

“He’s in the bathroom.”

“Huh. Okay.” Stiles frowned. “How’s Kiera?”

Scott tilted his head. “Later,” he mumbled, just as the door to the room opened.

Troye looked at Stiles warily.

Stiles nodded in greeting. “Hey man. I’m Stiles. You were pretty out of it yesterday so- How are you feeling?”

“Other than feeling like I need to kill something, I’m alright.” Troye walked over to Scott, who chuckled.

“Okay then,” Stiles said. “Good talk.”

Deaton came in with something in his hands, and proceeded to put whatever it was he was holding in the cupboards without intervening on their conversation.

“No, he’s really okay, Stiles. He had a-“ Scott glanced at Troye “-a reaction when he talked with Kiera, but he was still out of it from his injuries and the transformation and all that. But considering, um, everything, he’s taken to this ah, situation, pretty well.” Scott pursed his lips. “I think.”

Stiles shook his head, part fondly, part resigned on Scott’s behalf. He could see that Scott didn’t feel particularly confident in how he should describe things without upsetting the newly turned wolf.

“Alright.”

Stiles noticed how Troye held his head high, almost tilted back, like he needed to look confident. But he was pretty transparent, in Stiles opinion. He could sense the uneasiness in the boy, like he didn’t know how to hold himself together. Stiles took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. Apparently his spark reacted to how Stiles felt. The new wolf was cocky, but only on the outside. He had suffered during his imprisonment, and it showed.

Deaton gave Scott some papers and informed Troye that he should keep drinking enough water to stay hydrated so his body would catch up and heal the rest of the internal injuries.

Stiles exchanged a look with Scott, who got his serious face on. “Hey, Troye?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to get out of here? Alpha Matthew and the rest are waiting for us, but maybe we should run there?”

Stiles froze. “What? I don’t think you should run anywhere. Scott, he’s new at this and he doesn’t even know his own strength or reactions to things.”

Troye glared at him.

“Your glare has nothing on Derek’s, dude.” Stiles shook his head. “Sorry. But, seriously- it could be dangerous. To you and other people. Other unsuspecting people in this town.”

“I’ve had some time getting used to being a werewolf, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Troye said quietly. “They turned me a while back.” He was more subdued now than he was a minute ago, Stiles noticed.

“Yeah, but- I don’t mean anything bad, but you didn’t get to test it or get used to it. If you were restrained all the time, then-“

“But-” Scott said gently. “-I think it would do him some good. If you drive us to the gas-station, then we’ll run from there. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Please do continue to talk about me like I’m not here,” Troye mumbled a little more agitated.

Stiles wet his lips and put a hand on his hip and waved the other one around. “We will, thank you. Because this isn’t something we can take on easy. I mean; we need to precautious.” He looked at Scott. “Have you thought about what could happen if the instincts take over? Let’s face it, when you was first turned, it was touch and go on whether you killed me or not. On a daily basis. And let’s talk about Isaac. Or Erica. Because, dude, they were trained from day one but still had some days where they were not that trustworthy. And that is putting it mildly.”

Scott nodded. “I know.”

Deaton cleared his throat. “Maybe it would be wise to get someone to join you.” He looked at Scott with a raised brow.

Scott blinked and looked at Stiles.

A staring match, some huffing and some eye rolling between Stiles and the alpha later, Stiles made a frustrated sound. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”

“I’ll get Erica and Isaac to come here and join us, alright? They came back late last night so they can do it.”

Stiles looked at Troye, who wore a satisfied smirk. “Fine.”

Troye shrugged on his jacket. “Why does a human hold that much power over your decisions anyway?” He looked at Scott.

Stiles snorted and left the room. He couldn’t decide if he liked the guy or not. Troye had been through a lot, but he sure didn’t act like it. He had a tough exterior, but Stiles wasn’t so sure that it mirrored what the boy felt on the inside. One thing was for sure; even if he was healed from all of the torture on the outside, he still wore his scars on the inside. They all knew what that felt like. But how could they help him if he didn’t want to be helped?

His phone vibrated with a text from Scott. **Main man** : _He need 2 use some of the pent up energy. Dude, he hasn’t been able to run since he was turned. We’ll be fine. Trust me_.

Stiles sighed and started the Jeep. The two wolves got in and Stiles nodded to Scott.

He should trust him. He did, but Stiles just didn’t want anything else to go wrong.

-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for being gone for some time. But, y'know, life..


	14. Chapter 14

Two hours later they were all gathered at the loft. 

Stiles knew that Troye had managed to keep himself under control during the run over here. They still had used an hour longer than it normally would take, but Erica had said that Troye had seemed to need it. She had also mumbled something about a deer and a change of clothes and Stiles did not want to know anything about that. 

Stiles still felt a bit precarious about this whole situation, but he kept that to himself. He didn’t know if it was Troye or something else, but he had learned to trust his gut. Too much shit had happened when he ignored it.

Matthew stood next to the windows, along with Troye, Scott, Derek and Boyd talking quietly. Peter was hovering close by, probably listening in on their conversation.   
Everyone had been informed about how the alpha that had bitten Troye was named Glenn and that he and his pack had been used by Cassandra, with the help of Kiera, to keep Troye imprisoned.   
They could remember everything, but they had been under a spell the whole time as well. And, according to Matthew, they weren’t the most ethical pack, so the task they had been given hadn’t been too hard to execute.   
The two werewolves, Glenn and his only surviving beta, had been sent with Holly and Clark back to Al and his pack. Al had volunteered his pack in giving them the punishment they deserved.

Stiles shook himself out of his thoughts. The punishment-discussion had not gone well during the meeting and he did not want to think about it anymore. Either they would serve their time in something akin to a prison that Al had- or they would be killed in a fight. Stiles had no idea how to even begin to think about it. It wasn’t like they could be sent to a normal prison either, they were werewolves and Stiles didn’t think a normal prison would be a good thing for them. Only Peter had seemed to like the idea and Stiles had volunteered Peter to come with them, but the zombie werewolf hadn’t left with them. Unfortunately. 

Scott sat down next to Stiles on the couch. “Hey, man. You look tired.”

“I am tired. It feels like I haven’t slept in days.” Stiles rested his head on the back of the couch.

“I feel ya, man.” Scott looked around the room. “Could I have a word with you?”

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” Stiles looked at his best friend. 

“In private?”

Stiles looked around. “Werewolves, Scott. Everywhere.”

Someone snorted and Stiles knew it had to be Erica listening in on their conversation.   
Derek caught Stiles attention across the room. He looked up to the ceiling before looking back at Stiles again.   
Stiles frowned at Derek, who nodded. Stiles turned to Scott. “Let’s go upstairs.”

When Scott closed the door to Derek’s bedroom, Stiles looked around the room. He’d never been inside Derek’s bedroom. And he didn’t think his first time in this room would be with Scott. 

He chocked a laugh and turned to Scott. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I think Troye is a lot more damaged than he lets on.”

“No kidding, dude. The guy was practically a punching bag for werewolves for weeks.” Stiles raised his brows in question. “What are you thinking?”

Scott grimaced. “I think he needs someone to talk with. Someone who’s trained in these kinds of trauma. Someone like a psychiatrist or something.”

“I totally agree. But that also has to be someone who knows about werewolves.”

“Someone like Morell, maybe?” Scott said. 

“Yeah, but do we even know where she is?”

“We could ask Deaton? Get him to set up a meeting with her?” He paused. “Troye is a good guy. He’s just little out of it. And being held prisoner and also being turned? Dude, that’s not easy to handle. And I don’t think he even knows where he’s supposed to go now.” He paused again. 

Stiles closed his eyes. “You want to ask him to become your beta, don’t you?”

“I mean, why not? He’s young, and he needs a pack. He’ll never survive on his own, as an omega.”

Stiles grimaced. “What about Matthew’s pack? Or the Lester-pack?”

Scott ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Al wasn’t interested, because he has the two other men in his prison or whatever.” The word prison came with hand-gestures.  
They both grimaced at the thought. 

“What about Matthew?”

“He said they could take him, if Troye wanted. They’re closer to where Troye and Kiera come from than we are. But we should at least offer.”

Stiles nodded. “Why did you have to talk to me about it? What about the others?”

“I’ve already asked them and you seemed a little against him at the clinic.”

Stiles frowned. “I am not against him. I’m being careful. Because control is a thing." He looked at his best friend intently. "A pretty important thing.” He sighed. “I get that he needed to run and to feel free or whatever. I’m just trying not to let him lose control and hurt someone. Or hurt himself. And what happened with Kiera when Troye woke up anyway?”

“He wolfed out and tried to attack her.” 

“I rest my case.”

“But he got himself under control pretty quickly,” Scott protested. “ He just didn’t want to talk to her after that. Probably embarrassed or something. But they’re fine now.”

Stiles nodded, deep in thought. “Maybe he didn’t want to talk to her because he knows that she was the one to cast the spell over those other wolves that held him captured. And even if he knows that she’s a victim in this as well, she still was the spell-caster.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “Or maybe he’s embarrassed that he wolfed out towards his sister? Have you asked him about it?”

“Yeah. He said he was disoriented at first. But he didn’t say anything about why he didn’t want to see her afterwards.” Scott opened the door and looked at Stiles. “We okay, dude?”

Stiles just opened his arms with a grin. “Yeah, dude.”

Scott hugged him before going down to join the others. Stiles smiled. He hoped they could get a hold of someone that Troye could talk to, so he could get some help. Anyone who had gone through what he had, needed someone they could vent to. But Stiles didn’t think Morell was the right person to trust on a case like this. She had worked with Deucalion after all. 

Derek came into the room and closed the door as Stiles was about to leave. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You didn’t come down with Scott.”

Stiles blinked. “I’ll be right down.”

Derek nodded slowly before squeezing Stiles’ shoulder. “’Kay.”

Stiles grabbed Derek’s arm before he could leave the room. “Hey, so Cora left yesterday. Why the rush?”

Derek’s mouth turned into a straight line. “She had to get back to her pack.”

The way he said ‘pack’ made Stiles wonder if the thought of Cora belonging to another pack than Derek’s was a bit much to handle for the wolf.   
“And that’s okay with you?” he asked quietly, letting his hand fall away from Derek’s arm.

Derek swallowed. “Yeah.” He looked at Stiles. “It is.” Derek’s eyes softened a bit at the sight of Stiles caring eyes on him. “It’s just- weird. She’s always been pack. Even when I thought she was dead, I always thought of her as pack.”

They were turned towards each other, close- but not touching. Just finding comfort in the other’s presence.   
“She’s your sister.” Stiles said, his chest brushing against Derek’s as he took a quiet breath. “She’s pack, always will be. Even if she’s not living here, she’ll always be your sister and therefore your pack.”

Derek gave him a quick smile as he stepped back and opened the door. Not a full-blown smile, he was still Derek after all. It was more of a tug by the lip really. But Stiles knew what Derek meant.  
-

“Stiles, was it?” Troye asked, as he came into the kitchen later that day. 

Stiles turned to him and nodded before going back to opening the can of soda he was holding.

Troye leaned his hip against the counter and assessed Stiles as he took a sip. “You’re a human among wolves. I mean, I haven’t been in this game that long but isn’t that pretty unusual?”

Stiles looked at the guy. He couldn’t be more than 17, but he had aged a decade over the last weeks. At least his demeanor was different from other 17 year olds. No wonder, really. He could jump from small sounds and refuse to be touched. But sometimes, like now, he had this cocky demeanor- a front to keep his demons away. Stiles shrugged before answering. “No, not really. I mean, born wolves can birth human kids. So it’s not unheard of.”

“But more dangerous for humans. Since they have no powers like werewolves have.”

Stiles took another sip of his drink. Troye was curious about him. He could understand that. Lydia was a banshee, so she was alright in Troye’s eyes. Allison was human, but a hunter with a killer aim. The rest was werewolves. “Some precautions are normally taken around humans, yes.”

“Humans in a pack have always been appreciated,” Derek said as he entered the kitchen. 

“Why?” Troye asked, looking genuinely interested. 

Stiles had noticed the man jump when Derek came into the room. He was skittish and pale- Scott was right; he was more damaged than he let on.

“Because they keep us grounded. They might not have the same powers as us, but they are still valuable. They have their own powers.” Derek pinned Troye with a look. “They keep us human.”

Stiles looked between Troye and Derek, trying to break their staring-contest. “So, what are your plans now, Troye?”

Troye looked from Derek to Stiles, a little paler than before. “Don’t know. Scott talked about some lady called Morell?”

“Yeah. She’s a counsellor. Of sorts.” Stiles crossed his ankle over the other as he leaned against the counter next to Troye. “We can try to find someone more-“ he shrugged, “-suited to talk to if you want. She’s been known to be a little-“ He grimaced and left it at that.

Troye looked at him with a frown, like he couldn’t figure him out. “What’s your place in the pack?” Troye asked. “If I can ask that. I’m trying to work this shit out. To understand how a pack works, y’know.”

Stiles shrugged. “I was there that night Scott was bit. And someone had to keep him alive after his transformation. And keep him away from other people before he could control himself.”

“You said he almost killed you?”

“Yeah. But I’m still here so-“

Derek snorted.

“What?”

“You’re impossible to get rid of,” he stated.

Derek left the room with a beer in hand and Stiles watched him as he went back to the living room.

“Of course I’m impossible to get rid of. I am a friggin joy, Sourwolf!” he called after him.

Troye smirked. 

“What?” Stiles asked. 

“Nothing.” Troye gave Stiles a look. A smug look.

“Let’s get back to the others, alright?” Stiles said, feeling some of the tense energy between them dissipate. 

Troye just smirked but followed Stiles into the living room.  
-

The other pack was leaving now that the situation was taken care of. And Matthew offered Troye a place in his pack if he wanted but Troye wanted some time to rest before he took any decisions and thanked the visiting alpha nonetheless. Scott looked at Troye like a proud father and Stiles had to hide a grin when that had happened.

Matthew shook Stiles hand before he left that night. “Take care, Stiles of the McCall-Hale pack. It’s been a hell of a ride, but I am glad I got the chance to meet you.”

“I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, giving the circumstances,” Stiles said with a lift of his shoulder. “But it was nice to meet you as well, alpha Matthew.”

The older man smiled. “As I said to your alpha, I hope to meet you all again someday. You are all welcome on my land.” He paused. “Although I have to say; one would hope you came as a friend. I hope to never meet you as an enemy, you can be quite-“ Matthew shook his head. “I believe the word I am looking for is ‘strong’ but it does not cover what you are.”

When the door closed behind the visiting pack, the rest went to sit back down. Only Troye stood on the floor, looking at Stiles. “Who are you?”

Erica cackled and Lydia hummed, but no one answered. 

Kiera looked at Stiles as he sat down next to Allison, who smiled softly at him. 

Kiera seemed nervous and Stiles wondered why.   
Malia also seemed to notice, watching the girl with a frown. “Kiera, is everything alright?” Malia asked. 

Kiera got up and nodded before walking over to Stiles. “I’m sorry for what happened.”

Stiles got up as well and looked at her. “I am too.”

“But you just stopped me. Or stopped Cassandra.”

“Yeah, but either way-“ He squinted at her. “You didn’t want to do what you did, so that makes you a victim as well. So yeah, we’re good.”

She looked relieved and Stiles gave her a small smile. He felt his fingers tingle, just like when he was about to use magic. He clenched and unclenched his hands as he sat back down. 

Huh,weird, he thought to himself but soon forgot about it when Isaac threw the controller at him, obviously wanting them to play some ‘Last of Us’. 

“Lydia, what’s wrong?” Allison looked worried as she eyed the other girl, who suddenly moved from the couch.

Stiles looked from Kiera to Lydia, who was now standing next to the couch, looking into thin air.

Then she screamed. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone still there? Sorry for not posting in a while, I'll try to post more regularly- and I know that this chapter is more of a.. well, the next one will hold a little more.. excitement.


	15. Chapter 15

“Yo Derek,” Stiles closed the door to the loft and walked over to the couch. After Lydia’s scream, they had all gone over, step by step, what it was that would make her scream bloody murder. Possibly quite literally. They had no idea of the what and the why and the who, so all they could do was wait. And it freaked Stiles out. He had never been good in waiting.

Derek had run the perimeter with the rest of the wolves, but there was no trace of anything out of the normal.   
Lydia’s power was –well, loud- but it didn’t come with an explanation and that sucked. So now they just had to wait. Be alert, but patient. 

Isaac had become restless and agitated so some of them had decided to keep patrolling the boarders and Scott had agreed to it. Even if he knew it was a long shot, at least it would make them feel like they were doing something.   
Even Peter had disappeared to wherever he usually went, making a vague statement to ‘check out a lead’. Whatever that meant. Personally Stiles thought Peter was full of shit, but as long as that kept him away, Stiles was happy.

Derek had sent Stiles a text, asking him to come over so now here he was.  
“Derek?”

Derek came out of the kitchen. “You’re late.” Derek stalked right up to him and Stiles had a sudden flashback to when wolves stalk their prey.   
Predator, meet willing prey.

“You look like you’re a man on a mission,” Stiles chuckled but the sound turned out into a moan as Derek stepped closer and pulled Stiles into a hug. Well, more like a scenting-embrace where Derek had his face tucked into the space between the human’s neck and shoulder. 

He heard the wolf breath deep, inhaling Stiles’ scent like he’d been waiting to do it for hours. Days, perhaps.

Stiles made a sound between a squeak and a moan, embarrassed by how breathless he sounded. Stiles felt Derek’s breath against the skin on his neck and bit his lip not to make any embarrassing sounds. Lips almost touching his pulse point, but not quite.   
The air around them changed, became more charged, as Stiles let his hands rest on Derek’s hips. He felt his fingers touch the skin between the wolf’s jeans and shirt. 

“I can stop,” Derek said, his hand now hovering over Stiles’ neck. 

“No, don’t stop. Please.”

“Stiles.” His name was said like a plea, like it was too much and Stiles grabbed Derek’s shoulder, almost clawing at the other man in his pursuit to get closer. “I need this, us. I- We need this.”

Stiles felt his spark answer the words. He knew they needed each other. They always had one way or another- they had always needed each other. “Yes.”

He heard Derek hiss softly through his teeth and Stiles dove in for a kiss. He’d wanted this for so long, maybe before he’d become aware of it really. It had been there for a while. Maybe even years. The want and the longing. They understood each other in a way that couldn’t be explained. It just was.

The touch of a hand settled on Stiles lower back and it was overwhelming, just the touch of Derek’s hand was enough to make Stiles’ brain melt. He couldn’t understand how he would be able to live through this. But fuck, what a way to die. Derek’s hand pushed them even closer together and Stiles groaned when their bodies clashed together in a grinding motion.

Derek pulled back for a second but Stiles chased him, chased the taste, the feeling and kissed him again. Like really tongue-battling-teeth-nibbling-on-lips-kissed him.   
It was hot, so unbelievably right that Stiles didn’t think he would ever tire of kissing this man. He couldn’t stop moving his hands, letting them slide over the Henley, pushing it up and away so he could touch warm skin and solid muscles.

Derek’s thumb traced the corner of Stiles’s mouth, making him open up even more to his kiss. The sound that escaped Stiles didn’t even register in his mind. He was way too busy being swallowed up by the rightness of them together. 

Holy shit, they were together now, Stiles thought idly before breathing into Derek’s mouth as Derek scraped slightly pointed nails over sensitive nipples.   
Them kissing had made Derek lose control over his shift, at least a little bit.  
“Oh God,” Stiles groaned. “Derek. I am not complaining, but is this really the right time?”  
And wow, Stiles wasn’t known to be the one to be the most reasonable, but hey- sometimes he was. Really. And Lydia had screamed and shouldn’t they be doing something about the situation they -  
The wolf nibbled down his throat, taking his time marking him up, eliciting between biting and sucking and oh my god, Stiles couldn’t think. His mind was blank, except for the way Derek made him feel.

“Bed,” Derek grit out between bites and licks and Stiles steered them a few steps backwards, towards Derek’s bedroom.   
After a few stops that included Stiles losing his shirt and shoes, Derek his jeans and socks, they fell into the bed and Stiles landed with an ‘umph’.   
The feeling of Derek’s stubbles against his chest made him gasp, but in a good way. The wolf made himself comfortable half on top of Stiles, still working on his marks on Stiles neck. Derek’s leg was in between Stiles’ ones and when Stiles shifted to give Derek better access to his neck, Derek grinded down.   
Derek was hard. Really, really hard and Stiles moved again just to moan out loud as his own cock jerked against Derek’s. 

“Oh my god,” Stiles breathed and Derek rolled his hips, the bastard, making Stiles gasp as his eyes rolled back into his skull from the pleasure. 

“You should be calling my name instead,” Derek grinned.

Stiles choked on a laugh before settling his hand over cotton covered hips, sliding his fingers under the elastics. “And now is the time where you choose to develop a sense of humor?”

It was Derek’s turn to groan and Stiles preened. Just a little. Because Derek. Just –Derek.   
Derek settled himself over Stiles and covered him from head to toe with his own body. “Stiles.”

He looked up at Derek, his jaw relaxed and with his mouth slightly open. “Yes?”

“Take off your jeans,” he ordered before pulling back just enough so that Stiles could, admittedly not all that elegantly, twist out of his jeans. And socks for good measure. 

“Better?” Stiles asked, drinking up the sight of Derek holding himself up over Stiles, looking down at him with dark eyes, his irises blown so wide and there was almost no hazel left. 

“Definitely.”   
With a kiss, Derek made Stiles move so his legs were spread so Derek could fit quite perfectly between them. 

Stiles almost choked on his own tongue when he felt a hand sneak his way under his boxers. “Gah-“  
Derek spread his hand over Stiles’ cock and gripped him juuust right. “Oh my god. Derek.”

The man breathed into his mouth and pumped his hand a few times. Stiles’ head fell back into the pillows, feeling like he was about to burst any second. He really wanted to come, but he also wanted this to last. He bit his lip in concentration so he wouldn’t come.

Stiles gripped the hand to still it and Derek looked at him, waiting.   
“I’m trying my best not to come. Yet. Please, no more clothes,” Stiles breathed and Derek swiftly dragged both their underwear off. 

“Wow, you work fast,” Stiles grinned as Derek threw their boxers on the floor. “Impressive.”  
Derek was standing on his knees between Stiles legs and Stiles couldn’t decide where he should look first. He drank up the sight in front of him like a starving man before making grabby hands towards him.

The older man rolled his eyes. “Did you just make grabby hands at me? Really, Stiles?” 

“What? Christ, Derek. You’re like the sixth wonder of the world or something. Wait, is it the seventh?” He shook his head. “Not important. Come here.” Besides, he couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten laid, and he had definitely never had Derek like this. He needed him closer, over him, under him- he didn’t care, just closer. Now.

Derek chuckled. Actually chuckled, and Stiles marveled at the sound. It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. And the hottest.   
Derek closed his hand over Stiles’ cock again and Stiles lost the ability to think. Again. He moaned into the crook of Derek’s neck, pleasure bursting through his body.   
He grabbed onto Derek and rolled his hips. Derek stroked just the right way of slow and teasing. It was maddening. In the best way and Stiles panted against Derek’s mouth, trying to touch the man everywhere. 

Stiles took hold of Derek’s ass and pushed him down towards him, making Derek lose hold of his cock. But this was better.  
Their cocks slid over each other, making them both moan at the feeling. Stiles let his hands wander over Derek’s ass, over his back and around his shoulders while breathing into warm skin.   
Their cockheads slid over each other and Stiles bit down onto Derek’s neck and felt the man over him tense, before rolling his body harder against Stiles’. 

“I’m so close already. Derek,” Stiles breathed, embarrassed over how close he was to the edge.   
They both looked down to where they touched, their cocks making a mess with how much they were leaking precome.   
It felt so good and when Stiles pushed his hand down to grip them both, Derek arms trembled as Stiles stroked them closer to the edge. He could feel every muscle in Derek’s body straining from what they were doing and he bit down on his lip to stop the moan threatening to spill out. 

Stiles held his breath. It felt good. So incredibly good.  
He looked up at Derek, who was watching Stiles hand move over them both. 

“Your fingers, fuck- They’re obscene,” Derek groaned low, almost growled.   
Stiles thumbed over the head of Derek’s cock and the man hissed at the feeling before ripping his eyes away from Stiles hand and to his eyes. “Stiles, I’m-“

“Me too.”   
Stiles sped up his movements, letting himself go as he rolled his hips more vigorously and felt Derek arch his back, moving in time with Stiles’ hand.   
It was fucking glorious, that’s what it was. 

Derek trembled, just enough so Stiles noticed. Stiles looked up to see Derek watching him move. The wolf glanced up to Stiles’ eyes. “Your tattoos- They’re moving.”  
Stiles nodded, he could feel his spark reacting and wasn’t surprised. He felt like he was going to pass out soon, or at least come his brains out. He just hoped his spark wouldn’t make anything in the apartment explode or light go out or something. 

He moved with Derek, could hear his own ragged breath mix with Derek’s pants. He wanted Derek inside of him but he also wanted to be inside Derek. Just the thought made him speed up a little, twisting and stroking the way he liked it.   
It seemed to be working for them both, because Derek leaned down and growled into Stiles’ neck in pleasure and Stiles wanted to whimper. This was too much, too good and   
Stiles took his other hand and pressed it against Derek’s back, where he knew the triskelion was. “Derek,” he gasped and felt waves of pleasure run through his veins and over his body. Another hand joined Stiles’ one and with that added grip from Derek’s hand, he came with a long drawn moan all over their hands and onto his stomach.   
Derek pressed closer to him, pulled him into a kiss as Stiles tightened his hold on Derek’s cock as the wolf fucked into their fists and came hard and long, mixing their come on Stiles’ skin. 

Derek relaxed against Stiles, who could feel their come slide down his side and over his thighs. 

“Wow, that was-“ he started, but no words could describe what he felt. He had never imagined it to be like this. So good and so right. Jesus Christ. When did Stiles become a character from a Harlequin-novel?

Derek rolled them over so Stiles was on top and then slid his arms around the younger man. Derek breathed hard, but so did Stiles and they let themselves enjoy the afterglow.   
When Stiles could breathe normally again, he lifted his head from where it had rested on Derek’s shoulder and slowly sat up to rest on his knees.   
“We’re sticky. Also a bit gross.” 

Derek was lying on front of him, all spread out and relaxed. His hair was tousled and his lips were still a little bruised and Stiles felt his dick twitch. He ran his hands over strong thighs with a dust of black hair, marveling in the fact that he was allowed to do so. Derek looked so graceful, lying on his back in all of his naked glory. And what a glory it was.

He looked up to see Derek who was watching him with a serene look on his face. But also like he was a little bewildered.  
“That’s a new look on you,” Stiles mumbled, feeling a little exposed all of a sudden. “What’s up?”

Derek glanced down at Stiles. “You, apparently.”

Stiles threw himself down beside Derek, smacking the other man on his thigh. “I’m only half-mast, thank you very much. You try looking at yourself and don’t get hard.” He groaned. “No, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean. You know what you look like, shut up.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles was pretty sure it was fond. 

“I see you,” Derek contributed. “So I see what you mean.”

“Helpful, Derek.” Stiles pulled the sheets over his hips and leaned back onto the pillows. “What was that look you gave me before?”

Derek lifted a brow and leaned up in his elbow. “What look?”

“The confused look.”

“It was nothing,” Derek said and fell back down on his back, fixing his pillow. 

“Oh no, you don’t get to do this. Not now, Sourwolf.” Stiles put a hand on Derek’s chest and looked at him. “What did you think about?”  
Something shifted in Derek and Stiles waited him out. 

“I’m going to regret saying this and I know it,” Derek grumbled as he sat up next to Stiles and snatched some of the sheets to cover himself up. “It’s- Are we- Was this-“

“Are we in a relationship now?” Stiles asked, trying to help Mr. Emotionally constipated. Derek had gotten better over the years, but he was still Derek. 

The man nodded once and looked at Stiles through his lashes. 

“Do you want a relationship with me? Because I’m onboard if you do,” Stiles said and bit his lip. “I mean; we never got around to talk about it when we were back at the Chandler-house, but this isn’t just a one-time thing.” He paused. “Not for me at least.”

“Good.” 

And that was enough for Derek, apparently. But Stiles needed more. Now that he thought he knew what Derek was feeling, he climbed into the wolf’s lap and draped his arms around his neck. 

“Do you want to be with me?” he asked.

Derek pushed his hips upwards. “What do you think?”

Stiles swallowed a surprised moan, feeling just how much the wolf reacted to their position. “Derek,” he complained. “Work with me here. I’m trying. Feelings and all that shit. Come on.”

Derek sighed and put his hands on Stiles’ hips, letting the sheet cover them both. “I’m not good at relationships. You know about the one’s I’ve had.” He looked somewhere around Stiles bellybutton, where a huge tattoo covered most of his stomach. “I don’t know if I’m- If I can do it.”

“Do what? Be in a relationship?”  
When the wolf nodded, Stiles snorted out a laugh. “Dude, it’s me. I know you and you know me. Pretty well I’ll add. I’ve had one or two relationships and even if my track-record is somewhat better than yours, I’m not the guru here.” He waited until Derek met his eyes before he continued. “But it’s you, and I know you. We’re good together. We’re pack. Friends. And if you’ll let me- let us- we’ll be good together in a relationship as well. Sure, there will be crappy days and probably some shouting and throwing me up against some walls. But dude, you’re so worth it.”

Derek ducked his head and Stiles knew how difficult this was for Derek. Derek, who was afraid to let someone down. Derek, who had lost almost his whole family because of a woman who had used him, lied to him and traumatized him. Derek, who had struggled and ended up making bad decisions because he felt so alone. But also Derek, who cared and wanted the best for everyone. Derek, who Stiles trusted with all his heart. Derek, who already had his heart. And wow, Stiles had to stop thinking. He refused to get sappy just because he had gotten laid by the most awesome man he’d ever met.   
“To me, you are so worth it, Derek. And if you think you can handle a half-spastic guy who talks too much- Well, then here I am.”

“You’re more than that. And you know it.” Derek pulled him closer, but the movement was more comforting than sexual and Stiles melted into the embrace. 

“Alright,” he breathed against Derek’s ear. “So we’re doing this.”

Derek rubbed their cheeks together, unconsciously acting more wolf than human. “Yeah. We are.”

“Awesome.”  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...that happened. I'm a bit ambivalent as to if it happened too soon in the story or not..but I decided to just go with it.. Happy to hear your thoughts on it. *bites nails*


	16. Chapter 16

Next morning came bearing wind and- 

“Dude, is that snow?” Stiles said as he looked out the window. 

Derek, who came from the kitchen, handed Stiles a cup of coffee and looked out the same window. “I’ll call Scott.”

Stiles gulped down his coffee, knowing something was wrong. He looked around for his shoes, feeling energy run through his veins along with the now familiar sizzling feeling of his spark.   
After last night, they had spent the morning pretty.. occupied, before eating breakfast and checking up with the rest of the pack. None of their friends had seen or heard anything out of the ordinary last night and had ended up going home to their respective homes to get some sleep. Troye and Kiera had been invited to stay at one of the Martin’s guest houses. Stiles didn’t trust Troye’s newfound wolfiness, but the others seemed to think Kiera would be safe there with him. So Stiles had put some protection-wards around the guesthouse, so Troye wouldn’t be able to touch Kiera if he shifted. Kiera could have done that herself, but Stiles hadn’t wanted to ask her to do it. It was hard enough to reconcile herself with the fact that her little brother had been turned. So everyone had gotten a good night of sleep. 

But now there was snow. And Stiles had a feeling his spark didn’t react like this if it had been nothing. He’d felt something last night as well- no, he wasn’t talking about Derek, he meant his reaction earlier that night before Lydia screamed.  
Derek put Scott on speaker before he pulled on a t-shirt. 

“-you’re right. It’s snowing!” Stiles heard Scott say.

“It’s June,” was Derek’s dry answer and Stiles had to bite his lip not to laugh.   
It was no laughing matter, but Derek sounded so alert and serious, and yet here he was standing in jeans, t-shirt and the most adorable bedhead. He had showered this morning, but Stiles had managed to get his hands into that hair in more than one occasion since then. Also snuggling. That had happened. 

“We’ll meet out in the preserve,” Scott said through the speakers. “30 minutes.”

When they hung up, Derek looked at Stiles. “What.”

Stiles grinned, feeling pretty smug about himself. “I know I don’t mind, but maybe you should do something about your hair.” 

Derek rolled his eyes and disappeared into the bathroom. 

Stiles smiled as he collected his stuff and put on his shoes. His body ached, but in the right way. And he loved it. They were actually doing this. As in them together. And just, it was awesome. 

“Stiles, quit thinking.” Derek stood by the table, putting his phone in his pocket. “We have more serious matters to think about.”

“Shut up. I’m allowed to think about you, aren’t I?”

A smile tugged at Derek’s lips. “You’re broadcasting.”

“And?” Stiles said, stepping right up in front of the wolf. 

“The others might complain.” He paused and his eyes dipped down to Stiles’ lips. “And this is not the time.”

Stiles tugged on Derek’s shirt, ending up nose to nose with his boyfriend. “You already said that. And I know; it’s not the right time,” he agreed. “But we are doing this. Right?”

“Yeah.” Derek kissed him softly. Just one long, soft, lingering kiss. “Come on.”

“Can I drive your car, now that I’m your better half?” Stiles asked with a grin as they went down the stairs. 

All he got was a snort. 

“That wasn’t a no, Der.”

It so was, by the way.  
-

“What the fu-“ 

The rest of the sentence was ripped away from Scott as a fist connected with his stomach. He scrambled back up and attacked his enemy.   
Stiles needed him to stall, so Scott would do his best.   
But he’d been at it for a while. They had literally ran into three werewolves. Two of them had been killed but the last one was almost impossible to beat. And even though this wasn’t an alpha, it sure had something. It wasn’t just a regular beta. Scott recognized the other werewolf’s beta-status, but he was juiced up on something. 

Isaac was unconscious, lying next to a poisoned Jackson. Malia was nowhere to be seen.   
Isaac also had a broken leg, but it was healing rapidly- but slow enough to let Scott know that he was on his own. Boyd, Allison, Lydia and Derek were on their way, and Scott hoped they would be there soon. 

When they had met up out in the woods, they had split up to go over their territory. Because snow in June? It had to be witches.   
So when Scott and the others had encountered a werewolf, they had been surprised. But he had turned out to be a strong opponent. Literally.

Scott felt claws dig into his side, and he roared in pain. Twisting around, he kicked with all his power- his blow landing on the opponents’ thigh.   
Scott heard the sound of a bone shatter and he wasted no time in landing another blow. This time to the jaw.   
He felt someone come up next to him and with the added right hook Boyd served; the enemy went down. 

Scott breathed hard, spitting blood. “Thanks.”

Boyd nodded and turned to Isaac, who was now back on his feet. 

Jackson was still writing in pain, Lydia was holding his head in her lap while the others kept him still.

Scott looked at Lydia. “Get Jackson to Deaton. The poison in his body-“

“It’s wolfsbane,” Lydia breathed. 

“How did they manage to poison him-” Isaac asked, “-while we fought? How can they touch it and not get poisoned as well?”

“Stiles?” Scott looked around. “Stiles?” He looked at his pack. “Where is he? He told us to stall this guy, and we did. He should have finished whatever it was he needed time to finish.”

Isaac swallowed as he looked at his alpha. “Where’s Derek?”

Allison looked at Scott with huge eyes. “Scott, where was Stiles while you fought?”

Lydia and Erica got Jackson between them and started their way back to the car. 

“Do you need help?” Allison asked, but the two shook their heads. 

“Find Stiles and Derek.”

Scott started running over to where they’d left his best friend, Allison and Boyd on his heels. 

“He’s not here.” He looked around. “Stiles?”

“Stiles, where are you?” Allison looked around and checked for blood or other leads. 

Boyd shook his head. “I can’t hear him.” He sniffed. “Or smell him. At least not a fresh smell.”  
Boyd pulled out his phone and called Derek. “Hey. Where are you?” Boyd frowned. “Where? But that’s like- It’s five miles south. How’d’you- Alright.”

Scott nodded at Boyd but Allison frowned. “What?”

“Derek ran behind us on our way here, but we lost him. And now he’s south from us, by the caves by the foot of the mountain.”

Allison lifted a brow. “But that’s- How did he get separated from you?” 

“He doesn’t know. He said he couldn’t see anything because of the fog. And it was snowing there as well.” The last part was said like Boyd couldn’t really wrap his mind around it. Because really, fog and snow? In June?

Scott nodded once. “Let’s get back to the others. Allison, call your dad.” He paused. “And Peter. There’s something here that we don’t know enough about and we could use the help.”

Allison nodded and Boyd turned to go back to the others.   
-

“Fuck.”

Stiles came back to the place he’d just passed twenty minutes ago. 

“I know I’m not walking in circles. Although it looks like I am.” He paused to look around. “I am not walking in circles.” He put his hands on his hips, wetting his lips. “I am walking in circles. Fuck.”

He had been walking for what felt like hours and he had made sure to walk in a straight line. Because from what he could see, the mountain was to his left and if he followed a straight line, it would lead him to the trail where he had gone camping with his dad a few years ago. 

Kicking a small rock, he felt the frustration boil in his gut. This was magic, it was like he could feel it. And it was the same feeling he got when he used his own magic. Also logic. Because as far as Stiles knew walking in a straight line didn’t end up in a circle. 

He centered himself, letting the energy fill his veins. 

Something blocked him. It was like his spark was kicking against a wall.   
As he stood there, he could feel himself getting covered in snow but he couldn’t feel the cold. He was too concentrated.   
He felt something nudge the back of his head. It was like someone poked him with a finger, but he knew it wasn’t. It was strong magic. Powerful magic, wanting to get into his head.   
“Never again.”

He closed his eyes and pulled up his own magic for protection.   
When he’d just started figuring this magic-thing out, he’d quickly learned how to shield himself so he could be able to protect himself from people who tried tapping into his spark. 

In reality it was Simon who had told him to do it, to prevent it from happening. Stiles hadn’t really believed Simon to be serious about it, it was like they’d entered the world of Harry Potter from the way Simon talked about it. But now it came in handy.   
Stiles could feel the protection rune he had on his left shoulder swirl, like it didn’t like what was happening. 

Well, neither did Stiles. 

He turned and opened his eyes. He didn’t see anyone, but he didn’t need to. 

Conjuring up his spark, he felt his protection rune and the pack-rune work together. It told him that the others were in danger as well. 

“You won’t win,” he breathed. He felt the air get heavier, like it was mocking him.   
“You can’t win!” he spat out as he felt his spark give him strength to break the wall he had felt earlier. It was like an earthquake when the invisible wall started falling. The ground beneath him quivered and Stiles bit his teeth together to uphold his spark. Refusing to give up, he centered himself once more and held his palms out- letting his spark work freely, concentrating on his task.

When the invisible barrier finally fell, Stiles opened his eyes and felt a twinge of pain from exhausting himself and fell to his knees.

Gasping for breath, he looked around noticing that the snow was gone. And he recognized the other magic that was used. Fuck. “You should know better by now.”

All of a sudden, the air was clearer and he felt lighter. The intrusive magic was gone. For now.  
But where were the others? And why had he been separated from the others?  
-  
Scott looked up just as Derek burst through the trees and came to a stop next to them with Malia on his heels.  
Scott and the others had been using their time to recover from the fight while Derek had been running back to them. They needed to work together if they were to find out what this was all about. 

“You alright?” Derek asked, a little out of breath. 

“Yeah. Isaac and Jackson took the worst hit.” Scott looked at the wolves as he talked. Looking back at Derek, he frowned. “I don’t like this.” 

“That makes two of us.” Derek looked around. “Where’s Stiles?”

“He wasn’t with you?” Malia asked, brushing some dirt of her jeans. “I was about to help Isaac and all of a sudden I was standing like- maybe two miles away from here. I have no idea how that happened. I followed the trail back here.” She looked at Derek like she couldn’t wrap her mind around this. “You didn’t smell him either?”

“I didn’t see him or smell him,” Derek said, “He went with you, didn’t he?” he asked the others.

Allison nodded as she stepped closer to him and Scott. “He needed some time to make something against the last werewolf we were fighting, so he told us to keep the guy busy while he made the-“ She looked at Scott in question.

“I don’t know. I mean, the werewolves we fought were amped up on something and Stiles said he knew just the thing he could use against the last one. The guy had some skills, man. Like, unnatural skills.” He tilted his head against where they had left Stiles. “He was right over there, but when we finally managed to kill the guy, Stiles was gone.”

“Gone?” Derek looked around. “How the hell could he just be gone?”

“What happened to you, probably happened to him.” Lydia wet her lips. “You were what? Like five miles away? What if that happened to Stiles?”

Isaac looked ready to go look for him and Scott stopped him. “We need to stick together until we know what’s going on.”

“But he might need help!” he said. “And if we split up, we can cover more grounds.”

“There has to be a reason why you and Stiles were taken,” Lydia murmured, you could almost see the wheels turning in her head. “You’re the only born werewolf here, so they probably saw you as a threat. More of a threat than the rest of us. And Stiles,” she said, “has a spark. A pretty strong spark.” She looked away from where she had been resting her eyes and turned to them. “And what if they knew that?”

Malia growled. “Then we better find him before they do.” She tore of through the woods and with a nod from Scott, the rest of them followed her.   
-  
Stiles looked at his phone. “Finally!” He had reception and called Scott. “Dude, where are you?”

He heard Scott talk through the phone but he also heard someone running in full speed towards him. “Someone’s coming,” he said into the phone before pocketing it. 

A person came jumping over a bush and stopped in front of him, barely out of breath. 

Stiles just looked at him. “Peter.”

The man hummed. “Yes, that would be me.” He looked around. “It seems like your pack are looking for you.”

“And you’re here because..” Stiles let the words hang, but Peter just smiled. Smirked really, Peter never full on smiled. That would be too normal. 

“Well, because even as I loathe admitting it, we’re in the same pack. Or you are in said pack while I’m..well, closer to this pack than any other pack.” He paused and tilted his head. “It seems like they’ve found you as well.”

Seconds later they saw Malia and Isaac, then Boyd and Derek burst through the forest. Scott came last, while Stiles guessed the humans would come in a car or something.   
“Stiles!” Scott came up to him and looked him over. 

“I’m fine, dude. What happened to the amped up werewolves?” He looked over at Derek, who stood to Scott’s right, looking intently on him. “I’m fine,” Stiles repeated, more to Derek this time. 

“You sure?” It was Scott that asked, but Derek nodded discreetly before looking over to his uncle, who watched them like they were his favorite show. 

“Peter,” Derek said. 

“Nephew.”

Stiles decided to skip the situation that was about to happen and started telling them what he’d been through after he’d been separated from the others.   
“-then you showed up.” He chose not to tell them who the magic-user was, because they needed to get out of the forest and they needed to make a plan. Also; Peter. He didn’t trust people who died, then un-died. Stiles hated zombies. Especially when that zombie was Peter. Stiles wanted them out of the forest and away from Peter. 

Derek scowled at his uncle. “Why are you here?”

Peter lifted a brow with his arms opened up as in welcome. “Well, something told me you lot might have needed some help.”

“So here you are?” Stiles snorted. 

“Here I am.” He looked around. “But I see you found everyone, so-“

Scott frowned, like something in that statement didn’t add up, and Stiles knew something was off about the elder Hale.   
“How did you know we were split up?” he asked. 

Peter smirked. “Because they ran towards you like bats out of hell, and while I was here, I couldn’t catch your scent at all. And suddenly I could. And you’ve all been talking about witches, so it’s a just assumption.” He paused while he looked around. “Hate to say it, but if you’re going back to Derek’s loft, I’m not following. I hoped there would be some fighting, but- Well, aur reviour.”  
-  
“I know who the witch is,” Stiles said, just as they gathered around the table in Derek’s loft. 

“Witches?” Erica groaned. “Again?”

“Peter was right about one thing, and that was that it was witches.” Stiles said as Erica sat down next to him.

Lydia tilted her head, looking at Stiles with a blank expression. “Kiera.”

Stiles nodded. “Kiera.”  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank you for reading, leaving kudos and commenting. You have no idea how much that means! Really. And about this story: I have written this chapter so many times and this was what I ended up with. What do you think should happen next? If you have an idea or just a quick comment, I'd appreciate it. Some stories just write it self, you know. This did too, up until this point and now.. *shakes head at myself* Anyway: thank you for reading. I have the next chapter written, but I'm not satisfied.. I had THE best plan, but then Kiera came out of the blue and shook my plan up *shakes fist towards where my muse usually sits* Anyway, sorry about my rambling. And again: thank you for taking the time to read this story <3


	17. Chapter 17

“But Kiera is back to normal, I mean, she got Troye out and- She’s on our side, right? And Cassandra is locked up.” Malia frowned. “Or did she escape?” 

Lydia looked at Malia with a small smile. “Cassandra is getting treatment, yes. But even if she is locked up, she might have made some sort of loop hole in the deal she made with Kiera.”

Isaac frowned. “Like a booby trap?”

Lydia nodded. “That’s a way of putting it.”

Stiles flipped open his laptop and used his connections to find out if someone could booby trap forced magic from another persons will into the person who used the magic. Or something. To be honest: he had no idea how this had come to happen. “I might get some answers from some of my friends.”

“Who?” Derek asked. 

“Someone I went to college with. They might know more about this sort of misuse of magic.”  
With a scowling face, Derek nodded.  
Stiles sighed. He knew his friends didn’t really trust people outside of their pack. Normally Stiles didn’t either, but he’d gone to college with these people and he had learned to trust them. At least up to a certain point. “I trust them with these kinds of things.”

With a short nod, Derek left for the kitchen.  
The others opened the books. Some with groans, others with a sigh, but they opened the books. Somewhere there had to be information about witchcraft like the one they were facing. 

-0-0-0-

Stiles washed his hands before opening the bathroom door. He frowned when he saw Derek on the other side, waiting.  
“You alright?” Stiles asked, closing the door behind him as he stepped closer to the beta.

Derek’s eyes flicked down to his mouth before meeting his eyes. “I’m fine.”

Stiles let his fingers slide over the hem of Derek’s Henley, just above his jeans. “You sure? You look a little tense- oh, okay.”  
Stiles let himself be used as some sort of pillow, as Derek leaned closer, resting his head on Stiles shoulder while breathing him in. The deep breath was subtle, but Stiles had known werewolves since he was sixteen, so he knew their tells. 

Derek rested his hands on Stiles hips, breathing against his neck. “You smell a bit different,” he mumbled from beneath Stiles ear somewhere.

“Different?” Stiles asked. “Different how?”

“I noticed it out in the woods, but I thought it was because of whatever magic we’ve come across. But it’s still the same.”

“Is it good or bad?” Stiles frowned, swaying with the weight of his wolf. 

“It’s not bad. Just different.” Derek nudged his shoulder with his nose. “It’s like your spark is taking more place in you and it affects your scent. I’ve noticed earlier as well, but now it’s-”  
From Stiles frown, Derek sighed. “It smells like you. Like you’ve always smelled. Just more- I don’t know- stronger.”

“Stronger?”

“You smell stronger. More powerful.”

Wiggling his brows, Stiles grinned. “Hell yeah.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but the tension in his shoulders had eased a bit. 

“Taking a deep whiff of my scent helped.” He smirked. “You can admit it. Hey, don’t leave!”

He followed Derek into the living room again, to find his friends on their way out. “Where are you going?”

“To see if Kiera has come back.” Lydia slid her jacket over her shoulders before picking up her phone.

Kiera was staying in one of Lydia’s guesthouses. Or, her mother’s guest house, but details. 

Erica shrugged on her jacket as well. “We have to stop her if she’s attacking us. Again.”

Derek stopped to look at Stiles, who seemed to calm, only the hard glint in his eyes giving him away. 

“I’ll come with you.”

There was something dangerous about Stiles. Derek had always known that Stiles could be ruthless when needed. Sometimes the human could have this look in his eyes that made even Derek stop in his tracks. Not that he’d ever tell anyone that.  
It had always been there, buried somewhere deep. Beneath the layers of what made Stiles the man he had become.  
Derek hadn’t noticed at first, back when Scott had been turned. But later, with everything that had happened, Derek had sensed what the boy managed to hide so well. It came from the need to protect his friends and family. It came from somewhere deep down in Stiles, the sense of right and wrong. People would say Stiles had done a whole lot of wrong. He had killed, but he’d done it to protect the ones he cared about. And bad-guys deserved what they got. Stiles didn’t even hesitate in those situations. He did what needed to be done. Ruthless, but never unjustified. 

Derek shook himself out of his thoughts, looked over at Stiles who lifted a brow in question.  
The wolf nodded once. “Let’s go.”

-0-0-0-0-

With everyone on high alert, it didn’t take long to sense that something wasn’t right in the house where Kiera stayed.  
The house was-

“Shit, something’s not right.” Scott looked at Stiles. “It’s glowing.”

“Yes, I can see that.” Stiles switched his focus from Scott and over to Kiera. She couldn’t be seen, but Stiles knew she was in there. It was the same feeling of the invisible wall he’d come across out in the woods. “At least it’s not snowing.”

Isaac came up next to them. “Troye came.”

Scott whipped his head around to see the boy standing by Lydia’s car. “How-“

“We didn’t tell him. He said he could feel it.” Isaac shrugged, giving away his nervousness. 

“Feel it?” Scott frowned and turned his head to look at Stiles. 

“I don’t know, man. It could be whatever connection he still has with his sister that made him sense it.”

With a few nods and quick hand-gestures from Scott, they all got into position covering all angles around the house. 

Stiles kept himself in the background, centering himself. He knew he’d have to break that wall to even get close to Kiera. 

This ended now.  
-0-0-0-0-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the shortest chapter so far. But we're nearly at the end, hang in there. Your kudos and comments helps me in ways you'll never know- thank you for taking your time with this.


	18. Chapter 18

In the back of his mind, Stiles could almost feel his spark light up and spread through his body. It was like those Christmas-trees you see in television, where the lights rapidly lights up the whole tree when they’re turned on. Except for the glowing part. Stiles didn’t glow and thank God for that. 

He felt the pads on the tips of his fingers tingle and he turned his palms towards the house where Kiera was. He didn’t lift his hands towards the house, he didn’t need to.   
The witch had protected the house with the same spell he had felt out in the woods. It was like there was a shield surrounding the house. 

Feeling his powers battle with the wall no one could see, only feel, Stiles clenched his jaw and focused solely on bringing the wall down. They needed to get in there. Now. 

Derek was posed to attack, but had to turn his eyes towards where he knew Stiles had stopped. It was like he could feel the power emitting from Stiles bouncing of the invisible wall before it slowly made its way through- breaking the barrier surrounding the house. Derek wasn’t impressed; he had known for a long time that Stiles could be a force to be reckoned with. And not just because he was a spark. But because he always came through for those he cared about and wanted to protect. So no, he wasn’t impressed. He was awed. 

When the last remains of the barrier fell, Derek could feel it just as clear as if it was the house itself that had crumbled into dust. 

He ran towards the house along with Scott and Boyd, with Erica and Malia behind them. 

-0-0-0-0-

Stiles felt more than saw that his friends entered the house. In a way, he could sense just where in the small house Kiera was and he didn’t like what he felt. 

It felt like he couldn’t breathe, and for a while he struggled against it. He felt his tattoos move. The triskelion on his left side more than the rest.   
Derek. She had Derek.

Through his spark he sensed Kiera gathering her magic and panic shot through him.   
His feet moved before his mind caught up and in a few short steps he was inside the house. “Derek!” He couldn’t see him anywhere, but Malia was lying on the floor by the couch while Isaac was struggling to get up from what was now the remains of a table. 

Isaac met his eyes. “Stiles? Where’s the rest?”

Stiles let his intuition guide him to the other room and with his pulse skyrocketing, he ran over to Scott, who was holding a hand to his head.  
“Where’s Derek and Erica?”

Confusion marred the alpha’s face along with panic. “He was right here.” He looked around. “Where did she go?”

This was bad. Lydia and Allison were still outside and Stiles got his phone out. Something was not right. “Lyds, did you see anyone leave the house?”

“Only Erica. She’s here but it seems like she’s catatonic or something. I don’t – Stiles what’s going on?”

The low buzzing Stiles had sensed when he entered the house had amplified and when Scott got to his feet, Stiles shot him a look. “Go. Get out.”

“What? No!”

“Scott, you need to get Isaac and Malia out of here.”

“Stiles-“

“I said go!”

Something shifted in Scott’s eyes, like he was afraid for a second. Or surprised. Stiles had no idea and no time to ask why. Scott nodded once. “Let me search the house first.”

“There’s no time.” Stiles shifted his attention from Scott, turning his head a bit. The buzzing had turned into some kind of humming and Stiles felt itchy. “GO!”  
Stiles had never roared like that before, and certainly not to his friend. But he needed to get them out of there before it was too late. 

He left Scott when they moved to where Malia’s still form was lying and Stiles sprinted up the stairs. Kiera had to be in the house. Lydia hadn’t seen her leave so he knew they had to be in there somewhere. Stiles had no idea why, but he knew this had something to do with Derek. Unfortunately. 

He screeched to a halt in the door opening to the master bedroom. “Derek.” The name was punched out of him by the sight that greeted him. 

Derek was in his wolf form and he was pacing, restricted by a ring of what had to be mountainash. His beautiful, black fur was coated in something wet.   
When the wolf moved, Stiles could see drops of red dripping onto the floor. Blood.  
The enormous wolf stopped when he saw Stiles before snarling when Stiles stepped into the room. 

“Derek. Are you alright?” 

The wolf cocked his head in confusion and Stiles blinked a few times, trying to calm his erratic beating heart. 

The humming he’d felt was now a low sound and not just a feeling. It made Stiles feel dizzy as it bore into his body, making his protection tattoo twist in unease.

Derek frowned before growling low in his throat. Stiles knew that sound. It wasn’t an angry one, it was a worried one. One that told Stiles to be careful.   
They weren’t alone. 

Stiles had known that from the second he’d come into the room, he could feel the energy in the room vibrate through his bones.  
“What do you want, Kiera?” he asked quietly, feeling a calm settle in his bones.

A cold chuckle came from his right. 

From the corner of his eye he saw Kiera coming closer. “What every witch want. The powers that rightfully belongs to me.”

Stiles kept his eyes glued to Derek, who glared at Kiera, knowing he could do nothing to help. Stiles turned his head and looked at Kiera. “Is that so? You need more than what you were born with?”

“I want what once was mine,” she spat. “You should know there’s no greater feeling than magic running through your veins.”

Stiles turned his head slowly and looked at her. Something wasn’t right. “We lifted the restriction you had on your magic.”

Kiera rolled her eyes. “Not all of it.”

“And what’s with the snow? That was you, I reckon.” Stiles kept a close eye on Kiera’s face, struggling to make sense of what his spark was telling him. 

A frown marred Kiera’s normally smooth forehead. “Don’t talk like you think you can distract me. I will not let you stop me again!”

Something shifted in her face and as quickly as it had come, it was gone again. Something was nagging in the back of Stiles head, but he couldn’t grasp it. 

A bark tore Stiles out of his thoughts just as the lightbulbs exploded from their sockets and Stiles instinctively covered his head with his arms. Seconds later he opened his eyes and was met by darkness. The humming had taken out all the lights in the house and without thinking, Stiles threw himself on the ground and rolled towards where he knew Derek stood. Only the moonlight streaming through the window made it a bit easier to see in the dark. Otherwise he’d been totally blind in this fight. Because it would become a fight if he didn’t stop her.

With his hands, he felt the mountainash and made it so Derek was no longer trapped. With a quick roll he got up on his feet and looked towards the shadows where he knew Kiera was now standing. 

He could feel her magic pulling his own to the surface. His eyes went wide in panic. She was trying to take his magic to use as her own.

“Magic-stealing bitch,” he bit out as he felt his spark struggle against what was happening.

His protection tattoo burned, like it was fighting against the foreign magic. Stiles took a deep breath and shot his hand out, stopping Derek who was seconds away from attacking the witch. “Don’t,” he breathed. “She’s too strong.”

“Oh, you flatter me.” Kiera’s voice was cold, void of any feelings.

Stiles felt the calmness settle again, feeling steady in his own skin.   
His tattoos had stilled, only a few of them curling around his torso and arms. Protecting and strengthening. “I really don’t, but I know when a fight isn’t fair. And this, Cassandra, is not a fair fight. At least not for Derek, when it’s me you want.”

The magic that had been turned towards his own stopped like it had been cut with scissors. 

“How?”

The question was clipped. Fury laced with madness spoken in Kiera’s voice. But this wasn’t Kiera.

“How I knew it was you and not Kiera? Because Kiera would never abuse magic the way you have no qualms of doing,” he answered, centering himself and letting his magic run freely through him. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Cassandra. I would prefer the easy way if I were you.”

“But you’re not me, are you? This spark of yours- you have no right to it! You have no idea what you could do with it, no respect for true magic and its greatness. If my magic hadn’t been taken away from me, I would have used it better than you do. And now I will have yours.”

“Spoken like a true maniac,” he gritted out, releasing some of his magic, testing the waters so to speak.   
He almost shivered. Her magic was dark and strong. But there were cracks in it.

“This is abusive magic, you know this. You use Kiera’s magic to steal more. As a witch you know not to take on too much. Her body could burn from the inside and you’d have nowhere to go if that happens.”

“Oh, my God. Don’t you think I haven’t thought of that, fool?” she spat. “I can enter this body when I wish. But I had to wait for a long time to be strong enough, but now that I am I will have what should be mine.”

She lashed out with a spell so strong that it knocked Derek into the wall behind them. Stiles heard the wolf hit the wall with a shattering sound, and he let his spark ignite into full strength and shielded Derek and himself as Cassandra used Kiera’s magic to get to them. If one of those got through his shield, they would be dead from the force of it.   
The pressure was almost unbearable and the last time he had gone up against Kiera’s powers he hadn’t been alone. They had been three against one. Now he was alone against her. And if Cassandra had been crazy back then, she had lost whatever that was left of her sanity since. 

Pearls of sweat ran down his back and he knew he couldn’t keep this up that much longer. 

Derek remained consciousness with a groan before launching himself towards Kiera.   
He managed to sink some claws into the witch’s thigh before Cassandra sent him tumbling back with a flick of her hand. But her divided attention was enough for Stiles to pull up a bag of herbs from his pocket. Simon and his friends had come through and sent him this receipt saying they didn’t know why they sent him that exact formula, but they had felt it had been the right one. 

Stiles only hoped it would be right. 

With Cassandras falter in her attack, Stiles managed to bite a hole in the small bag before a strong wave of power made him crash into the wall behind him, knocking the breath out of him and his shield dropped with the fall. 

“I’ve got you now.”

How very villain-y of you to say, Stiles thought as he fought to sit up, spitting blood from his split lip. 

Kiera- no, Cassandra- ran over to him and put her hands on his chest, mumbling low as she did.

Struggling to get up, he felt weaker and weaker and he knew he was about to lose.  
It burned. Her hands burned and it felt like his body was on fire. Gritting his teeth, he gripped her hands, trying to wrench them away. “Argh!”

Gasping in pain, he tried to turn his head to look at Derek, but he had no energy left.   
“Der’k.” His voice had no strength, but with sheer force of will he managed to knock her over enough to lose the hold on his spark. 

With a crash and glass shattering, Scott leapt through the window and attacked with a snarl. 

Soon, there were more werewolves than humans in the room but as they tore into her, Stiles used his strength to cast them away from her. 

“What are you doing, you idiot?” Malia snarled as she got back up on her feet to pounce on Kiera who was now back on her feet.

“She’s still in there,” Stiles gasped. “Kiera.”

“How could she be?” Scott bit out, looking at the witch who sent Isaac flying into a wall with a howl.

Every five or so seconds they moved like they were in something akin to slow-motion and Stiles knew it was Cassandra’s work, slowing them down so she could have a chance.

“She’s still in there, we can’t kill her.” He’d seen it, a glimpse of desperation in the eyes he had come to recognize as Kiera’s own before Cassandras mask had slipped back into place. Concentrating, he felt his spark. It was weak, but it was there. She hadn’t managed to drain him. 

An arrow, probably Allison’s, shot through the open window and bore through Cassandra’s left shoulder. A surprised sound of pain left the witch and Malia sent Cassandra stumbling backwards with a hit to the stomach and Stiles scrabbled over to where he’s last seen the bag he’d brought. 

Fumbling with shaking hands, he tossed the powder of herbs into the air and willed it to meet its target.   
Exhausted, he watched the witch drop to the floor with a thud before he dropped like a sack of potatoes to the floor. He looked to Boyd, who was standing closest to him. “Take her to Deaton. He’ll know what to do with her.”

Then he felt darkness creep into his bones and his last thought was Derek. 

-0-0-0-0-


	19. Chapter 19

“Wuzzhap’nd?” Stiles blinked his eyes open and was met by Derek’s frown. “How is it that it’s your eyebrows that are your best communication-asset?” he mumbled, feeling his throat clicking when he swallowed. 

Derek silently handled him a glass of water with a straw in it and Stiles sipped it in greedy gulps. “Thanks.” He relaxed against the pillow and only now noticed that he wasn’t at home. He was in Deaton’s office. Flexing his hands, he felt his magic tingling but he ached all over and felt exhausted to be honest.

“Dude, how long was I out?” Looking to where Derek was seated, he could see the tense posture and the deep frown. “Derek?”

“Two days.”

“Wha- Where’s Kiera? What happened to her?” Did he still have his spark, or had she managed to take most of it? Concentrating, he could feel that it was still there, but weak. 

“Deaton says she didn’t finish the draining. You need to rest up and you’ll be fine,” Derek answered quietly, his hand hovering over Stiles’ before he let it fall next to Stiles hand.

Stiles watched Derek through his lashes. “Good.” He swallowed. “Good.” Pausing, he hated how Derek kept himself from touching him. He needed to know they were alright.   
Looking around the dark room, he knew it had to be in the middle of the night and with a huff he tried to get up. 

“What are you doing? You should get some rest,” Derek bit out and Stiles shook his head, grabbing the hand that shot out to steady him. 

“I need to pee. I’ve been sleeping for two days apparently.”

“You were out cold for two days. Your dad was worried sick.”

“Has he been here?”

“I sent him home an hour ago to get some sleep.”

“Why did you take me here and not to the hospital?” Stiles asked as they moved towards the toilet. Slowly, since his feet felt like noodles. 

“Deaton said he needed you here so he could monitor your spark. And we would’ve heard if your heart had stopped.”

Stiles frowned. “Still creepy.”

“Better than you dying.”

After Stiles had finished his bathroom-visit, he opened the door and stepped closer to Derek, who looked as haggard as Stiles felt. 

“Have you slept at all?”

Derek shook his head before gripping Stiles arm and guided him back to the bed that was set up for him. 

Sitting down, Stiles tried to get into bed by himself. Everything hurt, but he refused to ask for help, knowing it would make Derek worry even more than he already did. Ignoring Derek’s protests, he finished climbing onto the bed and suddenly Deaton stood in the door opening to the room.

“Stiles.”

“Hey, doc.”

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Shaky and tired but I’m good.”

Deaton checked his vitals before looking at him. “You should try to get some rest. I’d tell you to go home, but seeing as it is in the middle of the night I suggest you stay here until tomorrow.”

“Thanks. Where’s Scott?”

“On patrol.”

“And Kiera? Cassandra?” He had no idea what to call her. Had Cassandra been in Kiera the whole time or had she jumped in and out of her whenever she felt like it? Was she gone? Was Kiera alright?  
All these questions made him groan and Deaton looked at him knowingly. As always.

“Kiera is in the next room, still sleeping. I’ve done what I can for her but I can’t be sure that my work has secured her from Cassandra.”

Derek growled, probably wanting Deaton to stop talking about this. But Stiles huffed and cocked nodded to Deaton to go on.   
“With the strength it takes to even do something like what Cassandra did- She must have had this as some sort of back-up plan. But I don’t think her planning included just how strong you are.”

“And what? Since she couldn’t steal mine, she’s out of options?”

“I’ve sent Marin to the hospital where Cassandra’s body is held, and it seems like she’s gone into a catatonic state.”  
To where her body is held. Deaton could be so creepy sometimes. 

“That happened the same night as we fought her, I’m guessing?” Stiles shivered and laid down on the bed, feeling worse than before. He didn’t think it could be possible to feel even weaker than he head a few minutes ago, but he felt sleep edging into his mind.

“Yes. From what I’ve found from the spells I’ve used on Kiera, there is nothing that suggests that Cassandra still possesses her.”

“Good to know.” He looked at Derek before asking Deaton one last question. “Do you think Kiera will wake up? Or is she catatonic as well?”

Deaton lifted a brow but shook his head. “No. She responds in ways that does not suggest that. But she’s weak and needs her rest.” He looked at Stiles with tired eyes. “When you feel better, we should talk some more. Get some sleep, Stiles.”

“I think I will.”

With Deaton gone, Stiles looked over to where Derek was still standing, looking a little lost in Stiles opinion. 

“Hey.” 

Derek lifted his brows in question.

“Come here.” He patted the space next to him in the bed. 

“There’s no room, Stiles. You’re hurt.”

“No, I’m not.”

Eyebrows suggested otherwise.

“I’m tired and sore. Not hurt,” he amended. He commanded him closer and Derek sat down on the bed, with his back to Stiles.

“Derek, please lay down next to me. You look like you’re about to keel over.”

“I thought you- I blacked out and when I came to it, Troye was carrying you out of the house and I almost attacked him.”

“Troye did?” Stiles gaped. He knew Troye had showed up, but he had promised not to interfere. And Stiles didn’t think Troye really liked him all that much. “Wh- You didn’t though, right?”

Derek turned his head and looked at him. “No. Scott stopped me. And Boyd.”

Stiles frowned. He couldn’t follow Derek’s train of thoughts. “And?”

“I thought you died!” he roared. “I can’t-“

Derek was standing next to the bed, breathing heavily. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and Stiles could almost see the air go out of him. 

Swallowing, Stiles reached towards him. “Come here, caveman.”

Without so much as an eye-roll at the name-calling, Derek climbed onto the bed and engulfed Stiles in his arms, breathing deeply into the crook of Stiles’ neck. Seeing as they were almost the same size now, it was a tight fit on the bed but they made it work.

“I’m going to be fine.”

Derek huffed, but kept silent. 

“We’re going to be fine.”

-0-0-0-0-

Five hours of sleep, one breakfast and three bottles of water plus one shower later, Stiles looked down on a still sleeping Kiera.   
Her face was thinner than before and her skin was almost grey. Deaton had managed to make his examine-table into a make-shift bed and had now closed his clinic for a few days and that had never happened before. Not because of something like this. 

“She should be waking up in a few more days,” Deaton said, scribbling something down on his notes. “She’s getting better, stronger, for each day.”

“Stronger?” Stiles looked at the veterinarian.

“Not in magic.” Deaton paused. “I don’t think she has any magic left. Unfortunately.”

Stiles felt sorry for the girl. She had been born with magic and now Cassandra had fucked everything up. According to Marin, the doctors at the hospital where Cassandra was didn’t think the woman would wake up again and that it was only a matter of time before her body would suffer organ-failure. There was nothing they could do to help her. She’d gone too far and her body had given up.   
Stiles hoped the same couldn’t be said about Kiera. While Stiles thought she looked pale and sickly, Isaac had said she looked a lot better than she had been while Stiles was asleep. 

The whole pack had come barging in just as Stiles had finished his shower hours earlier and they had told him what had happened since he passed out.   
Apparently Troye had come into the house seconds after Stiles blacked out and had tried getting to Kiera, but Scott had used his alpha voice and said he should stay back in case Kiera, or Cassandra as it were, would wake up. Kiera would never have forgiven herself had she/Cassandra done anything to harm her brother.   
Then Troye had moved over to Stiles, picked him up and asked them where to take them. 

Boyd had nodded his approval of the new werewolf when Stiles had asked about them trusting Troye, and Stiles reckoned that when Boyd trusted someone, it was for real.  
Stiles thought Troye had accepted his place in the pack, seeing how he had listened to Scott when he’d used his alpha-voice. Scott didn’t seem to have noticed, but Stiles had. And Derek. 

When they were finished with their story, Deaton had sho-ed them out of there, claiming that he needed to talk with Stiles before he left and they had agreed to meet up the next day.

So here Stiles was, standing looking at a girl he’d fought against several times now. She looked so small. And Stiles knew that where Troye went, his sister followed. He knew he’d have to have a talk with Scott about that. If she survived.   
If she was to become one of their pack, Stiles needed to know that everyone would welcome her and Troye. But he also knew that they were all pretty wary of this girl now. Fool me once, and so on.

“Go home, Stiles. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Deaton and Stiles had talked about the best way to examine Kiera’s condition and see if they could find traces of Cassandra still being in Kiera’s body. Deaton hadn’t found any indication that Cassandra was still there, no traces of spells or magic. But Stiles was stronger than any other spark he’d seen before (Deaton’s words, not Stiles’) so they needed to work together on this one. 

Deaton stepped closer to the bed and checked Kiera’s IV-bag while Stiles nodded and got his keys out of his pocket. He still felt a little shaky and tired, so he thought a nap about now was in order. After he’d talked to his dad.   
They had spoken on the phone earlier, but he needed to see his dad. 

“Tomorrow.” Stiles left with a last glance on Kiera’s still form and Derek got up from his chair, coming up next to him as they walked out to the car. 

“Erica wants to know what you’d like to eat after the pack-meeting tomorrow.”

Stiles stopped and looked at Derek. “What? She never asks me that. Never. I never get to choose what to get when she’s in charge of dinner.” He grinned. “I think she likes me and was worried about me.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course she likes you. You’re pack.”

“No, but you don’t understand, Derek. She never lets me decide what to eat.” He grinned even harder when Derek couldn’t hide the smile tugging on his lips.  
Hot damn, his boyfriend was hot.

Derek pulled Stiles closer by his collar and Stiles didn’t let out a small meep. Nope. He didn’t, promise.  
Derek searched his face with his eyes and placed a quick kiss on the corner of Stiles’ mouth. 

Stiles gripped Derek’s hips and gave him a soft smile. “I think you like me as well.”

Now Derek rolled his eyes so hard Stiles wondered if it hurt. “I do.” Derek couldn’t hide the relief showing in his eyes and Stiles pulled him closer by his hips and hugged him.

“I like you too,” Stiles whispered into the hug, letting himself enjoy the feeling of warmth and safety.

-0-0-0-0-


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to give all of you a big thank you for reading and giving this story kudos and comments. This story has taken its sweet time getting done, but we're getting there. Only a few chapters left! So i hope you enjoy reading the rest as well! Anyway; Carry on!

Stiles nuzzled his pillow, knowing there was a reason he’d woken up in the middle of the night. But he couldn’t figure out why.   
Cuddling even further under the sheets, he opened one eye before closing it again. “D’rk, what have I said about lurking?”

There was no answer, only a dip on the bed when the werewolf sat down. 

“Lurker-wolf.” He turned around to look at Derek, who still wore his leather-jacket. Stiles sat up and felt worry nag in his stomach. “Has something happened with Kiera? I helped Deaton with the wards and spells but I haven’t felt anything change and-“

“She’s still sleeping. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Stiles relaxed and wiggled under the sheets again. “I’m fine, I’ve slept like eleven hours.” He opened his eyes and tugged at Derek’s sleeve. “Dude, get rid of the jacket. And the boots.”  
He watched as Derek did just that and Stiles felt a soft smile tug at his lips. “And your shirt.”

An eye-brow went up to say: ‘Don’t push it.’ But the shirt fell to the floor nevertheless and Stiles probably spent a little too long watching the broad shoulders and the pecks and the hipbones and- He had a magnificent boyfriend, alright. And from the looks on said boyfriends face, he knew exactly how he made Stiles react. Stupid werewolf with his stupid nose. 

“And now the jeans. Jesus, dude- those jeans should be illegal from how tight they are. You sure it doesn’t screw up your blood-flow or something? Not that I’m complaining when I get to see your ass in those jeans.”

Derek shucked off his jeans, standing in only his tight boxers that showed a bulk that twitched when Stiles licked his lips. Derek looked down before looking at Stiles with a new kind of raised brow. 

“Oh. I see there’s enough blood- No, it’s in the middle of the night and my dad is sleeping down the hall. So stop showing off and come to bed!” Stiles huffed and fought a blush. Yes, they were together, but they hadn’t really done this too many times so he still had his hallelujah-moments while looking at Derek, alright. Sue him.

Earlier, Derek had dropped Stiles off at his place so he could spend some time with his dad while Derek went home to shower and meet Scott for patrol. Stiles had ended up crashing hard, only waking up to eat dinner with his dad before going back to sleep. 

“I thought you would be patrolling all night?”

Derek walked over to the bed and climbed in. “Boyd and Erica took over. I wanted to check up on you.”

The words came quietly and softer than the situation had been seconds ago. 

Stiles almost cooed, but he was a man, damn it. He would not coo at his boyfriend, no matter how adorable he was. 

With Derek within reach, he pulled the man closer and manhandled him into an embrace. And Derek let him. 

Huh. 

“I feel fine,” Stiles breathed as Derek slipped his hands under Stiles’ shirt, letting his fingers run over smooth muscles on Stiles’ back. 

Derek caught his lips in a chaste kiss, but Stiles didn’t need chaste. He needed more and with a lick of his tongue, Derek opened his mouth and let him in.   
The kiss seemed to go on for hours, and they both reveled in it. 

Stiles felt his dick twitch in his boxers and let a moan slip out as Derek’s hands slid over his skin.   
His shirt went over his head and Derek growled low in his throat when Stiles tilted his head to the side. 

“Stiles.”

“I’m fine, it’s all good, Derek.”

“We shouldn’t- You’re not-“

“I am fine and I want to suck you. I’ve dreamed about this, about your dick in my mouth.”

Stiles felt Derek freeze before groaning like he was in pain. 

He took that as a good sign, pushing Derek over to his back before climbing onto him. “Something tells me you like my idea,” he grinned, wiggling his ass against Derek’s erection. 

Fingers dug into Stiles’ hips as he moved up and down the length he was sitting on. 

“Less clothes, more sucking,” Stiles mumbled and didn’t have to look at Derek to know he was rolling his eyes. 

He pulled both of their boxers off and settled between Derek’s legs. With an arm under each of Derek’s thighs, he licked a striped from balls to the head of Derek’s dick, reveling in the sound emitting from his boyfriend. 

Eying the pre-come on the tip, he licked that as well and tightened his hold on thighs that moved restlessly. 

“Stiles.” It was more a growl than anything else. 

Stiles grinned before opening his mouth, letting the taste explode on his tongue.   
From the sounds Derek made, he had to have done something right so he continued to bob his head, swirl his tongue on the tip and taking as much of Derek that he could into his mouth. He sucked until his cheeks hollowed before swirling his tongue at the top, letting the tip of his tongue dip between the head and the foreskin.   
The punched out sound Derek made had Stiles moaning, feeling his balls tighten. He didn’t want to come yet. Shit, he was so hard and Derek made these quite frankly porn-worthy sounds, and Stiles lifted his head to look at Derek. Who was staring down at his with wide eyes. Trusting eyes, and shit if that wasn’t a somersault-in-his-stomach-worthy.. Stiles would do pretty much everything for this man. The trust didn’t come easily, Stiles knew. Derek had been through enough to last him a life time.   
Stiles felt a little nervous, but at the same time, his idea felt right.

“Can I try something?” Stiles asked, feeling his tattoos slide excitedly over his skin. 

With a nod, Derek followed Stiles movements intently as the human nosed at Derek’s balls, then mouthing at them with saliva making them shine in the dim light. Stiles pulled Derek closer, surprised that he managed to move the wolf so easily, before bending Derek’s legs more to come closer to where he wanted to be. They had the same broad shoulders now and they were about the same height. And since Derek had become beta, he’d become ripped as hell but not as bulky. But Stiles seemed to forget that sometimes, so he felt pride in managing to move his boyfriend like he wanted to.

“What-“ Derek gasped before giving Stiles more access as Stiles dipped his tongue against the tight pucker, kissing and licking at it.   
“Oh fuuu-“ Derek continued with small moans and Stiles had to use all his strength to keep the wolf from lifting his hips too much. 

“I love making you feel good,” Stiles whispered before licking the twitching hole. He sucked, licked and kissed, marveling in how Derek let him to this to him. How vulnerable he let himself be with Stiles. And Stiles loved it and would do everything to make Derek feel this good again and again and again.   
He told him that between kisses and licks, before really going to work.   
In the end, Derek was a writhing mess and yanked Stiles up for a kiss. “I need you to get in me. Now.” He growled the words out through gritted teeth and Stiles wondered if he’d gone to heaven. 

“You sure? I mean, I thought I would be the one- I mean, I wasn’t trying to-“

“I am. And I will. But not tonight.” There was a flash of vulnerability in Derek’s eyes and Stiles put a hand on Derek’s shoulder, meeting his eyes. 

“It’s alright. More than, actually. Sorry if I sounded like I just assumed- I just.. no, you know: this is awesome and I’m more than willing,” he wiggled his brows. “If you know-“

“I regret everything.” Derek dropped his head back onto the pillow, but tugged Stiles closer so the human grinned. 

“Okay.”

Stiles quickly found the lube and fumbled with the cap until Derek took it out of his hands, coated Stiles’ dick and threw the tube away. 

“You sure?” Stiles asked somberly.

“I’m sure. Stiles, come on.”

“Definitely. Yes, going to-“ His finger slid in carefully, and from a nod from Derek, he added a second finger and after some careful teasing administrations, quickly added a third. Stiles tongue had already made the rim looser and gave in when Stiles guided himself in position and looked up into hazel eyes. 

Gripping Stiles ass, Derek pushed Stiles into him. Just as the head breached the rim and popped in, Stiles felt his eyes roll back but Derek slapped his ass. “Look at me.”

Stiles opened his eyes and pushed in a little more. “You okay?”

“Yeah. More.”

Excruciatingly slow, Stiles pushed in until he was all the way inside. “Still okay?”

Derek had his head thrown back and Stiles watched as Derek swallowed. “Just.. wait.”

“Anything you need.”

Slowly, but surely, Derek moved Stiles hips back a fraction before pulling him towards him again. Back and forth. With longer movements each time, until he nodded and Stiles took a deep breath. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

With long movements and a snap of his hips for each time, Stiles kissed what he could reach of Derek’s skin, feeling the wolf meeting his thrusts.   
He leaned back onto his knees and pulled a pillow under Derek’s back. “This okay?”

Derek nodded and Stiles gripped Derek’s hips. With quick thrusts he gritted his teeth and did what he could to find Derek’s prostate and with a snap of his hips, Derek almost howled as he gripped the sheets and threw his head back. 

“Stiles, god!”

“So good, Der.” He watched as Derek took his own dick in hand and Stiles almost came then and there from the picture Derek made. “You’re perfect.” He swirled his hips in a way that made him see stars, and from the punched out sounds Derek made, it seemed like he saw them too. “Oh, God.”

Then he really upped his game, wanting to make Derek feel good. He felt a drop of sweat roll down his back and his balls tightened. “Oh, shit. I’m going to come. Please, say you’re close. Derek-” He bit his lip, never looking away from the sight of his boyfriend giving into the pleasure. “I never thought you would let me- Oh God.” He knew he was babbling, but fuck if he could stop it. Watching Derek like this, feeling how warm and tight he was, it was too much and Stiles bit his lips until he felt blood and with a gasp he came so hard he almost doubled over. 

Blinking his eyes, he pulled out and swatted Derek’s hand away from his dick, closing his mouth over it and in seconds the wolf came and Stiles swallowed what he could from it. 

Feeling Derek’s muscles relax after the orgasm, Stiles climbed on top of Derek and kissed his shoulder, breathing hard.   
“Holy shit. That was-“ He looked at the man lying underneath him. “I feel like I should be thanking you, man.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but kissed his deep and slow. “Shut up, Stiles.”

“Is my dad still sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Stiles rolled to lie down next to Derek and looked at him with soft eyes. “I’ll get us some water and something to clean us up with.”

“I should go.”

“What? No. Nope, you’re not leaving. We’re going to go to sleep and then, in the morning, we’ll have breakfast before going over to Deaton.”

Derek looked at him with sleepy eyes. “But your dad-“

“-knows that I’m a grown up and he actually likes you now.” Stiles got up and pulled on his sweats, grimacing at the sticky feeling in his pants. 

Derek smirked and rolled to his side. 

“Shut up.”

Ten minutes later, they were clean and lying side by side, dozing. “Goodnight, Derek.”

“Night.”

-0-0-0-0-


	21. Chapter 21

With renewed determination Stiles focused on Kiera who was, surprisingly enough, sitting on the edge of her bed in Deaton’s clinic looking pale but otherwise alright.

He felt exhausted after hours talking with her, listening to her side of the story about being possessed by Cassandra. Well, she had no idea that she had been possessed, but she admitted to have lost time and place sometimes but had thought it had been her magic acting up after being taken away from her for some time. And now that she knew the truth, she felt terrible for everything that had happened. 

The pack was out in the waiting-room, refusing to leave. 

He didn’t know why, but something told him that this wasn’t over. Cassandra was still there. Weak and still in hiding. The glimpses were short and almost not traceable, but his magic recognized the madness within Kiera. The girl didn’t seem to notice and a part of Stiles felt glad that she didn’t. He was just worried about how everything would turn out.  
Deaton had been certain that Kiera had no magic left since Cassandra had taken over her body for longer periods of a time, so Stiles knew this energy, this twisted magic he felt, wasn’t Kiera’s. 

Deaton closed the door behind him as he entered and opened a small box. “Here it is.”

Stiles didn’t look over to whatever it was Deaton was talking about, he couldn’t afford diverting his focus.   
Cassandra’s body was dead, it had happened sometime last night- just as Kiera had woken up. 

“Here we go.” Deaton put whatever it was on the table next to Kiera’s bed. “Whenever you’re ready, Stiles.”

“What?”

“What I have here is-“

A sob stopped Deaton from finishing his sentence. 

“Cassandra?”

Kiera’s mouth twitched. “No. Still me.” Her fingers gripped the pillow she had in her lap. “It’s just- I’m so tired and you still think she’s-” Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t feel like I did when she was still here. I mean, I didn’t know that she was with me at all. But now that I know, I can recognize the signs and stuff but- she died! Her body died. How could she still be with me?” Drying a tear falling on her cheek, she looked at them. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I just- What’s going to happen to me? What if she’s still there?”

Deaton put his hands in the pockets of his slacks and looked at her. “We need to be sure. I understand your confusion and I know how tired you must be. But this is important.”

Stiles looked at the box Deaton had brought. “What’s this?”

“This is tea.”

“Tea? What the-“

“She’ll drink it and the ingredients will allow us to read her magic better. To see what we can’t find.” Deaton poured hot water into a cup and added some leafs from the box. 

“Tea?” Stiles eyed it skeptically. “Really?”

“Yes, Stiles.” Deaton stirred it with a spoon. “Tea.” He turned to Kiera, who looked at them like she was about to throw up from the smell. 

“It smells disgusting,” she grimaced. “Do I really have to drink it?”

“I’m afraid so.” Deaton handed her the cup and dried his hands on a towel. “I’ll get you some water.”

Just as he left the room, Kiera froze in her movements, before straightening her back, looking up from the cup she was holding while eying Stiles intently. And poured the tea on the floor.

“Shit.” Stiles knew he shouldn’t have relaxed. He had known something wasn’t right. It had been too easy. 

“Hello, Stiles.”

“You’re back, I see.” He knew from the commotion outside that his pack had heard them talk and probably sensed his spike in heart-rate. The only problem was that they couldn’t get inside, seeing how everything in this place was made of mountain-ash and Lydia was at her house gathering some of her old books on witchcraft along with Allison. 

“I am. And this body feels strange, now that I know I can’t return to my own.” She stretched, as if to get a feel of this body she held prisoner. “So, I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked, hoping Deaton would get back soon. 

“Because this is where I take my leave.” 

With that, she threw him across the room with a wave of energy so strong that he couldn’t even brace himself. 

Coughing, he scrambled back to his feet. “Deaton!” he shouted, blinking rapidly to get the black spots out of his eyes. “Scott! Derek!”  
Even with his eye-sight damaged, he could see how Cassandra opened the window and started to crawl out, only looking back to grin like the maniac she was. 

“Fuck!” 

His own magic crawled through him, desperate and angry. He was angry. As the pain in his head dissipated, he could sense someone holding onto his arm. 

“Where did she go?” 

“Scott?”

“Yeah. You okay, man?”

“That bitch! She totally blind-sided me,” he grit out, as he felt his eye-sight return to normal, seeing the black veins going up Scott’s arm. 

Erica growled as she leaped outside the window after Kiera, and Stiles got up feeling a bit sore, but otherwise alright. “Let’s get this bitch once and for all.”

“Where did she go?” Derek ran into the room as he spoke. “I ran around the back trying to get in when I heard you heart-rate change, but I can’t even smell her.” He went over to Stiles, who leaned his shoulder into the wolf’s chest. 

“You couldn’t smell or see anything?” Stiles looked at Derek, who shook his head. 

“She couldn’t have gotten far.” Scott said with a frown, looking at Troye, who seemed both angry at Cassandra and worried about his sister. 

Troye let his eyes glow yellow. “What are we waiting for?”

-0-0-0-0-

“Wait here.” Boyd said as he turned the corner, following. They’d been looking for a while, none of the wolves could trace her, so they had to use the human way: searching. Stiles had gone with Derek, Lydia and Deaton while Malia had followed Scott, Troye, Allison and Isaac.

Stiles felt his magic swirl through his body, like liquid lava- irritated because she’d gotten away again. It was like an intense itch he couldn’t scratch. “She could be anywhere.”

Derek was a silent figure next to him as they waited for the other betas to get back. Stiles squeezed Derek’s arm, hoping it conveyed what he wanted to say. ‘It will be okay’, ‘Be careful’ and ‘We’ll get her’.

With a spark of calm, Stiles went over to the other side of the alley and opened a door that creaked when he moved it. 

“Stiles, what are you doing?” Derek hissed as he crossed the street after him. Lydia followed while Deaton stood guard outside until Isaac and Boyd got back. 

“Stiles, stop. This is stupid, we shouldn’t split up from Boyd and-“ 

Stiles heard Derek growl. “Damnit, Stiles!”

The human followed the long hallway and entered the first open door to the right.   
“Stiles.” Cassandra was leaning against the wall, visibly shaken and weak from running. “You just can’t help but to irritate me, can you?”

Stiles looked around, taking in their surroundings. It was an empty room, probably used for storage. But now there was nothing there, other than Cassandra and himself.   
He pushed the shield of energy out of his body, to surround only the two of them so the others couldn’t get to them. He didn’t know why. He just did what his magic was telling him. 

A cold stare assessed him through the slits of Kiera’s eyes. It was painfully obvious that this was a dark witch- there was nothing remotely warm about this person. There was nothing there that reminded Stiles about the girl he had come to know as Kiera. 

With that in mind, he divided his energy in two currents towards her while blocking her waves of pressure, trying to force him off his feet.   
Stiles clenched his jaw in concentration and focused on his energy. Split in two, his magic wasn’t as strong but he had one current that restrained her while the other one hovered around her, waiting. 

“What the- Let go of me!” She spat, the anger so strong that she vibrated. Struggling against the hold he had on her, she reminded Stiles of a wild animal. Her hair was in disarray and spit dangled on her chin from when she spoke. 

She kept babbling and Stiles didn’t dare to look away from her. He knew he wasn’t back to full strength after their last fight, but this was the only chance he had to saving Kiera. He just knew that if this didn’t work, Cassandra would manage to kill Kiera and get away.

“-and when she is gone, then I’ll be out of here. This is a hell hole! How can you even live here? And the things you do- laying with werewolves and befriending them. You are a disgrace to witchcraft!”

He shut her words out and took a deep breath. 

Deaton had told him how they could separate Kiera and Casandra. The things was that it was tricky.   
Stiles had never been up against something like this before. But he knew how it felt to be possessed. And although that knowledge made him feel sick, he also knew the loopholes. And he used that to his advantage. 

The magic that had been hovering close to Cassandra flew into her body when Stiles flicked his hand. 

“Spiritual guides, I ask you. Help this human to regain control over her mind and body.” He heard Casandra’s terrified scream when she heard his words and understood what he was about to do. “Om chitta hum phat svaha. Om shri mati asur svaha.” 

He repeated the mantra as he felt his magic battle with Cassandra’s twisted one inside Kiera’s body. 

“Om chitta hum phat svaha, Om shri mati asur svaha.” He repeated the mantra over and over, until his voice shook and sweat broke out all over his skin. 

Cassandra’s screams could still be heard, and his shield must have dropped when he saw, from the corner of his eye, that Derek and the rest of the pack had entered the room. 

“Do not interfere,” he heard Deaton whisper. 

With a blast of energy from Cassandra, Stiles stumbled backwards but he shook helpful hands of him. He couldn’t afford anyone breaking his concentration. 

“Om ah hrih singhandana hum phat.” With that, Cassandra froze on the spot, her scream shut off like it had been cut with a knife.   
“Om ah hrih singhandana hum phat!” Stiles dragged air into his lungs and murmured the same thing over and over again, until Kiera’s body sagged and slumped to the ground. 

Scott threw himself over Kiera, but Stiles stopped him with a blast of energy. “Do not touch her. She is not done.”

The wolves gathered behind Stiles and Deaton stood next to Stiles. “Don’t stop. It’s close,” the man said quietly and Stiles stopped his chanting, but not his magic. 

He could see the body twitch and turn and the smell of something rotten spread inside the room. 

Stiles felt his tattoos move, sliding over his skin in gratification and protectiveness. “Spiritual guides, I ask you kindly. Help Kiera, the rightful spirit to this body. Help her be free.”   
Just when he pulled his magic back from the body that was now laying unmoving on the floor, Kiera’s mouth opened in a soul-piercing scream as something rose from her mouth. 

Deaton quickly caught the purple rose petal in a jar. 

Stiles went over to Kiera’s body and checked her pulse. “She’s still here.”

Troye ran over to them with tears streaming down his chin. “Kiera?” He took her hand, like she was made out of glass. “Kiera, stay with me. Please!”

Scott hurried over to them and looked down at Kiera. “She’s Kiera?” He looked at Stiles. “And you’re sure?”

Stiles grimaced and stepped away from the hand Scott was about to put on his shoulder. “Pretty sure, yeah.” He felt drained and sore and didn’t want anyone touching him. His tattoos were still moving and he could feel the magic curling into itself, wanting to get away from the situation now that it was solved. 

With his energy so low, both mentally and physically, he sometimes reacted like this. When people touched him, it felt like needles piercing his skin. And he knew it came from sensory- overload, his magic having been used to its limit. 

Scott looked at him with a hurt expression and Stiles was about to explain when Deaton cleared his throat. 

“Get the girl to a hospital. Tell them she’ll need fluids and something for the infection.”

“Infection?” Stiles looked down at the girl that was now laying on her back, looking more dead than alive. 

Troye was holding her hand in a grip so tight that Stiles hoped he wouldn’t break any bones in her fingers. The boy kept whispering to his sister in between sobs and Stiles looked back at Deaton.

“Possession and infection attacks the body the same way. The witch that possessed her may not be in there any longer, but the marks it left can be seen as an infection. The doctors will know what to do with her.”

With that, he left the room. As if nothing had happened. 

Stiles shook his head in amazement. Deaton was so weird, but Stiles had to admit the guy knew what he was doing. 

“Wait, what will happen to that purple thing in the jar?” Isaac called after Deaton, but Derek answered. 

“He’ll put it somewhere safe.”

Scott gathered Kiera in his arms and looked at his pack. “Who’s driving?”

-0-0-0-0-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me, but you guys are the best! I'm so thankful that you read my story, it makes me happy to know that you like it:) 
> 
> Oh, and the chanting Stiles did: Om ah hrih singhanada hum phat- a mantra purifies negative karma and pacifies naga harm and such.  
> Om chitta hum phat svaha/ om shri mati asur svaha- a mantra that protects you from upper spirit possession or harm. 
> 
> It was the closest I came to what I wanted for the cleansing of Kiera and to get rid of Cassandra. Hopefully it worked.


	22. Chapter 22

Stiles dreaded the shower he was about to take. His skin was still sore, along with his mind and everything else.  
His tattoos had stilled and his magic was resting and Stiles wanted to rest as well. But he was sweaty and sticky, so here he was, trying to manage through the ordeal of removing his clothes. 

His arms hung limply down his side and he felt his knees buckle. Managing to slide down onto the lid of the toilet, he groaned in pure exhaustion. 

He had no idea how his magic had gotten stronger. When he’d come back to Beacon Hills, it had just been a small spark, just something that was there sometimes. Just in a few months, his spark had really strengthened and somehow Stiles felt surprisingly okay with that. Even if it hurt like hell when he drained himself like this. (Deaton had explained how magic worked. Or could work. It was, evidently, very individually how magic or the spark affected the person who had it. According to Deaton he had no answers other than Stiles would ‘just know what was right’. Stiles thought it was extremely helpful words.) Simon, his friend from school, had told Stiles just how strong he could become if he just learned to be in tune with it. Now, Stiles thought, he was in tune with it alright.

Kiera had been taken to the hospital by Scott, Troye and Isaac, while the rest of them had gone home to shower and change. Erica and Boyd would meet up at the hospital as well, to take the night-shift of watching over her. 

Stiles had been ordered by Scott (while Derek had agreed in his surely way) to go back home to get some rest. And even if Stiles hadn’t asked him, Derek had silently come along. 

Stiles took a deep breath and steeled himself before sluggishly pulling his shirt of. 

Suddenly careful hands were helping and Stiles opened his eyes to meet green ones. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Derek threw the shirt on the floor and started untying Stiles’ shoes. “Let me help you.”

“I can’t-“

“I won’t touch you more than I have to.” Derek looked up to meet his eyes. “Just let me help you.”

Stiles nodded and let himself relax, knowing Derek would take care of him.  
Sometime between the first kiss and now, they had their own way of understanding what the other needed. And even if Derek didn’t know the reason of Stiles’ refusal to be touched, he respected it, knowing it would be explained when Stiles was ready. 

Stiles felt gentle, strong hands remove his shoes and socks before helping him stand so he could take off his jeans and boxers.  
It was nothing sexual about it, only the tenderness and love he felt aimed at him. 

With a shaky breath, he circled the wrist on Derek’s left arm. 

Derek let Stiles clothes drop to the floor and looked at him. “Let me turn the shower on, okay?”

Nodding, Stiles closed his eyes and tightened his hold on Derek’s wrist. 

It made Derek’s task a little more difficult, but he didn’t mention it.  
After checking the temperature, Derek guided Stiles into the shower, adjusting the flow so it wouldn’t be too painful against his skin. 

Stiles got into the shower with some help from Derek and let the warm water soothe his body. “Join me?” he asked quietly, not moving from where he was standing under the spray. 

Moments later, Derek got in behind him and Stiles knew his boyfriend was holding himself back. Wolves were tactile and he couldn’t touch Stiles. 

“Derek?”

The man took a deep breath and held out his hand. “Can I?”

Stiles gave him the washcloth and turned his back on him again. 

Stiles felt soap and water run over his back as Derek carefully washed his back, then his shoulders and arms. Next came his thighs and calves.  
The touches were light, and to Stiles it felt like a caress, even if the pain was still there- but not as bad as it could have been. 

Feeling a light hand turn him around, Stiles went with the movement and felt his magic relax, as if it was soaking up the calmness in Stiles, preening at the attention from Derek. 

He opened his eyes and watched as Derek ran the washcloth over his torso and down his legs.

The human smiled. “I’m not going to break,” he joked, but tilted his head when Derek rose to his feet and looked at him. “When I use that much magic in such a short amount of time-“ He shrugged, “-it’s like my body gets sore. Like I can’t stand people touching me. It feels like thousands of pin-pricks whenever someone touches me.”

Derek pulled back his hand but Stiles put it back onto his chest. 

“This feels good.” He leaned over for a short kiss. “Keep going.”

Derek looked like he wanted to protest, but he didn’t say anything. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

Stiles smiled his first smile in hours. Despite being exhausted and weak, he felt strong in that moment. He had someone backing him up, no questions asked.  
In a way, he’d always had that. For years now, he’d had Derek in his corner. And vice versa. They just hadn’t noticed just how true that really was.

“I love you.”

Derek’s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead and stopped what he was doing. 

“Don’t look so shocked, dude. And you don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know.”

Derek’s eyes mellowed and Stiles felt a soft kiss against his wet lips. Derek put the washcloth down. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Rinsing off and getting dry took some time, due to Stiles’ noodle legs, but he laughed at it and felt better for each moment, each gentle touch. 

Getting on the bed in his room, he crawled underneath the sheets along with Derek, who’d just ended a phone call with Scott, who were still at the hospital.  
Kiera was fighting the traces of the possession, but she would be alright. Scott told them to get some sleep before coming in tomorrow. 

Derek gathered Stiles in his arms, before he froze and lightened his hold on Stiles. “Is this okay?”

“I’m fine now, this is good.” He yawned. “I just need some rest.”

He snuggled down under the sheets and closer to his boyfriend. 

Just as he nodded off, he felt Derek’s arms tighten around him as he kissed the top of Stiles’ head. “I love you too.”

“Cool-beans.”

Derek snorted in disbelief. “I don’t know why though.”

Stiles grinned into Derek’s chest. “I’m awesome.”

“If you say so. Sleep, Stiles.”

-0-0-0-0-

Flapping his hand around, hoping to find the phone that kept buzzing, Stiles lifted his head and with a mumbled ‘yeahelo’ into the phone. 

“Hey, you feeling better?”

“Scott, hey. Yeah, I- well, I think so.”

Scott chuckled. “I woke you up, didn’t I?”

“U-hu.” Stiles regained some more of his consciousness. “How’s Kiera?”

“She’s still sleeping. That’s why I called. Deaton said she would probably be asleep for days. But- It’s not that I don’t have faith in your powers, dude. But like, I had no idea that you had so much power, y’know.”

“Scott, your point?” Stiles rolled over to his back, looking over at a adoringly sleepy Derek. 

“Are you sure? I mean, we thought Kiera was alright the first time as well. And- Look, I think Troye could be a good addition to the pack. And it’s his sister.”

“That’s why you need to be certain about her. So when Troye officially joins the pack, she will too, in a way.” Stiles locked eyes with Derek, who raised his brows in mock. They both knew that Troye had become pack a while back, even if the alpha wasn’t as aware of how Troye had responded to him as the rest was. 

“Yeah. How-“

“He listens to you, he bares his neck when you use your alpha-voice, dude. He’s been trailing after you since we brought him here.” Stiles smiled when he thought about Scott’s face at the moment, even if he couldn’t see it. “He even let you carry Kiera out of the house and into the hospital. And it’s his sister, not yours.” He paused. “You’re already his alpha, even if he isn’t aware.”

“Dude,” Scott breathed. “He is.”

Stiles could hear the smile in Scott’s voice. “Yeah.”

“But Kiera, Stiles.”

“I’ll be there.” He checked the watch on his nightstand. “Give us an hour and we’ll be there.”

“Is Derek with you?” Scott asked. Then groaned, he’d noticed the change in their relationship and hadn’t been too surprised. “Stupid question. Forget it.”

“I will,” Stiles grinned and put his free hand on Derek’s chest. He hummed. It was a nice chest. Firm. Also a little hairy. Stiles liked it, and mumbled his goodbye to Scott, who from the alarming voice on the phone, had understood just where Stiles mind had gone. “An hour, Stiles.”

Stiles put the phone away and turned over so he was half-lying on Derek. “Hey.”

“Good morning.” Derek ran a hand down Stiles shoulder and side, still laying with his eyes closed. “Are you feeling better?”

“I am.” Stiles kissed Derek’s chest. “We should get ready, Scott needs us at the hospital.”

“He should trust you more.”

“What? He does. He’s my bro.”

Derek opened his eyes and pulled Stiles even closer. “He should trust your spark, then.”

“He’s not used to me having a spark, dude. I haven’t really gone around flaunting what I can do.”

“I know. I’m just saying.”

Stiles sighed. He knew what Derek meant. But he also knew that Scott needed time when there was change. And Stiles had changed a bit over the years, with his magic and with his more settled way of being. 

“I need a shower,” Derek said, kissing Stiles on the side of his head. 

“We showered last night.”

Derek raised a brow. “Join me?”

Stiles grinned wide. “Hell yeah.”

-0-0-0-0-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! I actually managed to write it the way I wanted it. Jesus, people, how everything worked against me as I tried writing it. But hey, I got there in the end. And there's only one more chapter to go! Hope you liked it so far. And again: Thank you for reading. You're awesome!


	23. Chapter 23

“How is she?” Stiles asked Scott, who’d stepped outside the hospital to meet them. 

With a concerned line on his forehead, Scott nodded. “Better.” 

“She’s awake?” Derek asked, looking just as worried as Scott now. 

“Guys, relax. From what Deaton told me, there’s no trace of Cassandra in Kiera.”

“But she could be there, hiding.” Scott stressed as they made their way inside. “I need to be sure and Troye is like, crazy worried. His wolf is restless and- His control is slipping whenever he’s stressed and close to Kiera.”

Derek tensed and looked behind Scott, who had stopped talking abruptly. 

“Hello nephew.” Peter came to a stop beside them. “Scott. Stiles.” He looked at the last mentioned. “How are you feeling? Better, I assume?”

Stiles snorted. “Where were you last night?”

“Around. You had it covered in the end either way.” Peter turned his attention to Derek, whose face were strained. 

“Nephew. I gather you’ve finally come to your senses about this one,” he gestured to Stiles. “Finally.”

Derek growled, but Scott bristled and stepped in front of both Stiles and Scott. “Peter. Leave.”

The man raised a brow. “I never thought I would say this but; chill out. You seem a little tense.” He sighed when their looks boarded towards murderous. “Alright, I’m leaving. I just had to make sure.”

“Make sure about what?” Derek grit out. 

Peter cocked his head, in faux surprise. “That everything is safe. As it should be in our little town.”

Stiles flicked his hand and Peter groaned, his eyes finding Stiles in a heartbeat. 

Stiles grinned, he knew it was a petty move. But Peter had left them when they could have used some backing last night. “Talk to you later, Peter.”

“Pleasure,” the man grit out before walking away.

“What did you do?” Scott asked as they entered the hospital.

Stiles put his hands in his pockets as he nodded to himself. “Made him leave, didn’t I?”

Derek shook his head while Scott just looked at him. “Dude.”

“Let’s go meet her then,” Stiles said as he knocked on the door to Kiera’s room.

“Stiles.” Troye stood in the corner furthest away from the bed where Kiera was sitting. 

“Hey.”  
Stiles turned his eyes to Kiera, who sat with her head bent, like she couldn’t meet his eyes. “Hi Kiera.”

Slowly, she looked up and showed off wet cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Stiles. I couldn’t- I knew something was off back at the clinic, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was or-“ Hulking, she hid her face in her hands. “I should have been stronger, warned you or-“

Stiles took her hands in his, meeting her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was. Cassandra used your magic to strengthen her energy, poisoning your magic as she hid from your consciousness.” He held her eyes with his. “You couldn’t have known. That kind of power she had over you- You couldn’t have known.”

She closed her eyes as tears continued to stream down her face. 

Scott quietly cleared his throat to get Stiles’ attention. 

“What?”

Scott nodded in Kiera’s direction. “Is she-“

Stiles sighed. “Yes, Cassandra is gone. No, she won’t come back. And yes, I am sure, Scott.”

From the conviction and irritation in Stiles voice, Scott backed off, nodding.

“Scott.” He followed the alpha out of the room, letting Kiera have a few minutes alone. “I know you have to make sure she’s not possessed, so they’re deemed safe so they can join the pack should they wish for it. But dude, trust me when I say Cassandra’s gone.”

“I do trust you.”

“Do you?” Stiles ran a hand over his face. “I know how my spark works, alright. And this is the first time I can say for certain that Kiera is Cassandra-free.”

“But you didn’t do any examination or any-“ Waving his hands, Scott frowned. “-any kind of spell or-“

“First of: that’s not how it works. At least not for me. And if you think I went into that room without my shields up and my magic ready and awake, then you don’t know me at all.”

A few looks, wild gestures, grimaces and sighs later, Scott deflated and nodded. “I know, dude. It’s just, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s two reasons really. If they are going to be in our pack, I need to be 100% certain that she’s okay. You know?”

Stiles put his hands on his hips and looked at Scott. “And you don’t think I know that? Dude, I am in your pack as well. This concerns me just as much as it concerns everyone else. And yes, she’s cleared. Why do you have so much trouble believing in me?”

Scott visibly tensed at the way Stiles looked at him. “What? I believe in you!”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

The alpha’s hand landed on Stiles shoulder. “Dude, I do! Of course I do. It’s just-“ He sighed. “It’s a lot to take in, alright? You’re pretty scary when you go full warlock, so I don’t doubt your magic.”

“Then what?”

“It just looks so easy.”

Stiles gawked at him. “Are you serious? Just because I don’t always chant and use all kinds of weird looking stuff like Deaton does, I’m not for real?”

“No, no. Stiles. It’s just new to me. You’ve never talked to me about this stuff and suddenly you’ve got all this power and it looks so natural to you and so- It looks so normal and then it’s your tattoos and-“

“You’re not making any sense.” Stiles was normally the one to ramble, but this time it was Scotts’ turn.

“I’m just not used to it, but I will be. Promise.”

“Okay. This is who I am, Scott, but I’m still me. And she has no remains of Cassandra in her.”

The tension bled away and Stiles knew they would be okay as soon as Scott would become more adjusted to this side of Stiles. 

“Okay.” Scott nodded, and Stiles could see the trust there now. Scott just needed time.

“Hey, what’s the second thing?” Stiles asked. 

Scott frowned in question and Stiles lifted a brow. “You said there were two reasons you seem so unsure of this. The first was your concern about keeping the pack safe and the newcomers good enough to join. And the second?”

“You can be pretty scary.”

Scott quickly explained when Stiles was about to ask what he meant. “Your magic is strong, dude. I’ve never questioned you. It’s just new to see you acting with it.” Scott looked at Stiles. “And you’re pretty scary when your eyes turn white.”

“What?”

-0-0-0-0-

Back at Derek’s loft, all of his packmates looked at Stiles in surprise. “You didn’t know?”

Pulling his hair, Stiles blinked at them in confusion. “No. Of course I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We thought you knew,” Lydia said with an air of exasperation. 

“Well, if I’d known that my eyes turn white when I go all-“ He gestured erratically, like he couldn’t find words. “- then I’d-“ He paused. “I don’t really know what I would’ve done, but-“

Scott patted his shoulder. “But now you know.”

Jackson snorted, but thankfully kept the snark to himself.

Stiles rolled on the soles of his feet. “Yupp. Not freaky at all.”

Derek hid a smile and put his phone in his pocket. “Isaac should be here soon along with Troye.”

Boyd looked at Scott. “So he’s officially in our pack?”

“He asked, I said yes and that’s that. He’s been my beta for a while, I think.” He frowned, looking lost in thought. “But Kiera-”

“But she doesn’t want to join us?” Malia interrupted, sitting on the floor by the couch.

Scott shrugged. “She said she didn’t know if she would fit in, no matter what I said.” He looked at his friends. “It’s a big step, joining a pack. Her brother is a werewolf. She isn’t. And even if humans can be in a pack, she might wish to settle for a normal life. She has a choice.”

Stiles looked at Derek, who nodded. Stiles had talked with Kiera about her magic. And she had already known her magic was gone, even before he confirmed it. She had talked about moving to New York, but after Troye had been turned, she didn’t want to leave him alone. And if he accepted the invitation to join the Beacon Hills pack, she could move but still keep in touch and visit. 

“She won’t join us.” Stiles sat down on the couch, letting Allison put her feet in his lap. “I talked to her at the hospital, and if Troye is safe here with a pack, she’ll go to New York and study medicine before coming back here.” He paused and looked at Scott. “Maybe she’ll say yes then, when she’s gotten used to not having magic anymore.”

Scott nodded, who’d been there when they had talked together. “Yeah. She’s welcome here anytime.”

Erica nudged Stiles foot with her shoe. “So she’s Cassandra-free?”

“Yeah.”

“Ding dong, the witch is dead.” She grinned. “Finally.”

Isaac opened the door to the loft and threw himself onto the loveseat next to the couch, clearly having heard Erica talk. “Thank God for that.”

Troye gingerly sat down as well, keeping close to his alpha. “The doctor says she’ll can be released tomorrow.”

Stiles gave him a quick smile. Troye would fit right in with the rest of them in no time.   
Derek settled next to Stiles and put his arm on the back of the couch, pulling Stiles closer. 

Isaac looked at Stiles with a smirk. “So you manned up and made a move, huh?” He looked at Derek’s arm resting behind Stiles’ back.

Derek glared, but Stiles just grinned. “We’ve made quite some moves, but-“

He was interrupted by their friends groaning while Troye hid a smile behind his hand. 

“What?” Stiles looked at his friends. “It was funny!” He looked at Scott. “Right?”

Scott nodded, like the best friend he was. He was definitely Stiles’ favorite. Except Derek. Because moves. The guy had moves that made Stiles’ toes curl.

Derek pinched his thigh and Stiles yelped. “What?”

His boyfriend just lifted a brow, probably knowing where his mind had gone.

Stiles just leaned back, resting his head on Derek’s arm. “Troye, I have a question. Marvel or DC?”

-0-0-0-0-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did the thing! Finally! And I'm sorry it took me so long to post it. But here we are. Soo.. what do you think about it? As always: thank you for reading! Laters, baby.


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